Khalid Mahmood – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II

The tribute made by Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, in the House of Commons on 9 September 2022.

I rise humbly to pay tribute to Her late Majesty the Queen on my behalf and that of my constituents. When I came to this House in 2001, I was placed on the esteemed Broadcasting Committee, dealing with the media and tv, which was chaired by the right hon. Member for North Thanet (Sir Roger Gale), who is not in his place at the moment. The only privilege we had, and the only reason anyone knew of us, was that we had an invite to the Christmas reception at the palace. As a new Member, I went along to the palace with my colleagues, and as the Queen was circulating I was lucky to meet her first and to introduce myself, and she was pleased to do that. Then, however, I took it upon myself, as the school monitor, to be the representative of the whole Committee and started taking them across to the Queen to introduce her to them.

My petulance did not occur to me until I came home and thought about what had happened, but her greatness was that she was not irritated or annoyed by what I had done. She must have realised that I was a newbie in Parliament and decided to encourage me. I never saw a harsh expression on her face or anything else. That is my enduring memory from when I first became a Member of Parliament.

Her late Majesty was the Head of the Church but, as others have said, she supported all religions. She also supported many other beliefs as well, such as those of the Māoris, the Aboriginal people and some African tribes, and she supported people who had no faith at all. Above all, she supported people. She had trust in people. She gave her life to service, in dignity and in humanity. We should pay our tribute not just in eloquent speeches but in raising our own levels and standards in this place, if not to emulate her then at least to try to get somewhere close and to see how much better we can be. That would be an enduring tribute.

The Queen was not just the monarch of the United Kingdom; she was also the Head of the Commonwealth. Only last week she wrote a letter to the President of Pakistan sympathising with the suffering of Pakistanis in the huge climate tragedy of floods.

I end by reciting a Muslim prayer, as did my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Ladywood (Shabana Mahmood):

“Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajioon”—

to God we Belong, and to God we all return. May the Queen rest in peace.