Sir Lindsay Hoyle

I want to say a few words before we start our proceedings about our former colleague, Sir Patrick Duffy, who died aged 105 during the Christmas recess. Not only did Patrick have the claim to fame of being the oldest living former Member of Parliament, but he was also the last to have served in the second world war, having survived a terrible crash during a training exercise. Patrick was a northerner who was born in Wigan—a Lancastrian by birth—and his death is a blow to the many people who enjoyed his company and his tales from the past. A Labour MP for Sheffield Attercliffe from 1970 to 1992, and previously for Colne Valley, Patrick was a well-respected parliamentarian, an effective Navy Minister under the Labour Prime Minister Jim Callaghan and president of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. He was a man of deep faith, which Pope John Paul II recognised when he bestowed upon him a papal knighthood. Our thoughts are with Patrick’s family, his friends and his allies across all political parties.