We’ll continue his vital work
SIR David was all set to co-host the world’s first virtual Children’s Parliament for seven to 11-year-olds.
When I approached Sir David to become the Parliamentary Champion for the event he seized the opportunity.
What struck him from the outset was the importance of educating young people at the earliest age possible on parliamentary democracy.
He flew the flag for British democratic values. May that flame continue to burn brightly in his name and never be extinguished.
Sir David has become a martyr for making a stand against tyranny and upholding the British way of life.
He wanted Britain to make its own decisions and certainly not be sucked up into homogeneous global soup.
In Sir David’s memory, we owe it to him to make The Children’s Parliament a great success.
Children from all across the country are welcome to join in and make their views heard. The key message is that their views really, truly matter. That’s what Sir David stood for as a true politician of the people.
During my final meeting with Sir David at 11.45am on Friday – the day he was murdered – he was on fine form, making jokes and talking about his excitement about the project.
We were discussing the running order, topics surrounding climate change, Covid-19 and technology, and how the debate should be conducted and adjudicated.
We also had to sort out how many votes the kids should have. Sir David said it was all about quality not quantity!
He was due to speak to another big supporter of the Children’s Parliament – Philip Dunne, MP for Ludlow – later that day. And the two of us said we’d meet up in Westminster this week.
Sir David had promised to pin down the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, to ask for a personal video message.
“Leave it to me,” he said with a smile.
After the heinous tragedy which took place minutes after the end of our Zoom call at 12.05pm, there was talk about whether the event should be cancelled. Instead it has been unanimously decided by all parties that the Children’s Parliament must go ahead in Sir David’s honour. It’s what he would want us to do.
●●The Children’s Parliament is backed by UK companyWakelet, an online education specialist, and Microsoft365. It will be broadcast globally on the Daily Express website and social media at 5pm on Friday October 29, just in advance of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference.