Boris Johnson calls for Prince Philip monument in parliament tribute
Boris Johnson has called for a monument to Prince Philip, who he said would be remembered for generations to come in a tribute in the House of Commons today.
The Prime Minister said that he knew “the House [of Commons] and the country will want to consider a suitable memorial for Prince Philip”.
Johnson’s statement in the House of Commons focused on the Duke of Edinburgh’s “gift for innovation”, tendency to make gaffes and devotion to the Queen in his address.
“In an unparalleled career of advice and encouragement and support he provided one particular service that we in the House know in our hearts was the very greatest of all,” Johnson said.
“In the constant love he gave to Her Majesty the Queen as her ‘liege man of life and limb’ as the words he spoke at the coronation.
“He sustained her throughout this extraordinary second Elizabethan age, now the longest reign of nay monarch in our history.”
He also spoke of Prince Philip’s fondness for design and technology, saying that he “could take something very traditional whether a machine, or indeed a great national institution, and find a way by his won ingenuity to improve it to adapt it for the 20th and 21st century”.
“Indeed as an advocate for skills and craft and science and technology this country has had no Royal champion to match him since Prince Albert and I know in due course the house and the country will want to consider a suitable memorial for Prince Philip,” Johnson said.
“He shaped and protected the monarchy through all the vicissitudes of the last seven decades and helped to modernise and adapt an institution that is above politics, that incarnates our history and is indisputably vital to the balance and interest of our national life.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told MPs that “the Duke loved his country…and Britain loved him in return”.
“Britain will not be the same in his absence,” he said.
“For most of us, there’s never been a time where the Duke of Edinburgh was not present.
“At every stage of our national story for the last seven decades, he has been there.
“A symbol of the nation we hope to be at our best. A source of stability. A rock.”
Starmer also paid tribute to Prince Philip’s Duke of Edinburgh award, a youth programme he set up that has been completed by millions of children in 156 countries.
He said: “In recent days, I’ve been struck by the countless stories of lives turned around by the D of E awards. Young people who found their confidence, and found their way.
“This was summed up by a 14-year girl old girl, who said, on passing her Bronze Award, that she felt: ‘I can do anything now.’
“The D of E now covers 130 countries and has helped millions of people around the world.
“It is perhaps the best symbol of the Duke’s global legacy.”