Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

Lord Khan of Burnley Excerpts

Thursday 26th May 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

My Lords, it is a great pleasure and honour to speak today on this humble Address celebrating the Platinum Jubilee. As I walked into the Chamber today, I was delighted to see that the doorkeepers have also joined the celebrations by decorating their office.

Her Majesty’s first visit to Burnley was in 1955. Unfortunately, I was not around at that time, but I was around in 2012 at a major part of her visit to Burnley. I was working as a junior academic at the university at the time, and Her Majesty the Queen, alongside Prince Philip, visited the campus. I was responsible for arranging a small corner of the atrium which Her Majesty was visiting. I was an academic, and we had the community development team, the youth work team, and the public services team. Each department had a PowerPoint screen up, showing whichever subject they were—but when I looked at the public services screen, it did not say “public services”, because the academic had missed the “L” out. So, as I looked at the screen very nervously and sheepishly, I had a quick moment before Her Majesty arrived to change the word—which I cannot repeat—to “public” instead of what it was. Thankfully, Her Majesty’s visit remained dignified.

As many noble Lords have spoken about so eloquently and passionately today, Her Majesty has seen 3,833 public Bills and 14 Prime Ministers in her time—what a remarkable record. As a proud royalist, I am honoured to be standing here, as the son of an immigrant from a Commonwealth country and somebody from an ethnic minority. When Her Majesty spoke to me on that visit, she made me feel special, as the noble and learned Lord, Lord Judge, mentioned. I had mature students with me, and I remember—as Prince Philip asked them, “What are you doing at university? You’re surely too old to be at university”—having a pleasant conversation with Her Majesty around lifelong learning.

I am quite emotional, because this is a historic moment, and I am honoured to be speaking here. I note, in my own words, the Queen’s unparalleled, devoted service—service with fortitude and resilience. We as a nation are so lucky to have had Her Majesty serving for so many years and, as my noble friend Lady Chapman spoke about, during the pandemic. I was Mayor of Burnley at that time, and I remember the difficulty all communities faced in this unprecedented coronavirus pandemic, but in her we had the hope we needed. A famous philosopher once said:

“Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air...but only for one second without hope.”


Her Majesty the Queen has been providing us with hope for more than 70 years, and she continues to do so.

To finish with the very interesting point made by the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, I have been trying my best to see Her Majesty in the last few months. I lobbied hard to get a ticket for the State Opening but, unfortunately, she was not here. I lobbied hard to get a ticket for the garden party, at which I saw noble Lords from across the House yesterday, but, unfortunately, because of ill health, she was not there. But I tell your Lordships one thing: I will be lobbying hard to ensure that the House of Lords moves to Burnley so we can have the Queen addressing the State Opening in that city.