Questions to the Prime Minister?

Tim Farron.

Question number one, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm sure the whole House will join you in welcoming our Australian friends to the gallery.

But I'm reminded of the occasion when the effort, another former Australian Prime Minister John Howard visited this House.

He watched Prime Minister's questions and he commented afterwards that however lively PMQ's

was here, it was a vicarage tea party compared to Australia.

The death of anyone through an act of violence is an appalling tragedy.

A growing number of young people have lost their lives in a cycle of mindless violence that

has shocked us all. Our thoughts and prayers are with the friends and families of all the victims.

The responsibility for these crimes lies with the perpetrators of them, but we must all do more to ensure that justice is served and to tackle the root causes of this violence so that we can bring it to an end and ensure the safety of our young people.

Mr. Speaker, I will be holding a summit in number 10 in the coming days to bring together ministers, community leaders,

agencies and others. And I will also be meeting with the victims of these appalling crimes,

to listen to their stories and to explore what more we can do as a whole society to tackle

this problem. Mr. Speaker, I'm sure the whole House will want to join me in paying tribute

to Professor Lord Batacharya,

who died sadly last week.

His creation of the Warwick Manufacturing Group was truly a pioneering partnership between academia and industry.

Our thoughts are with his family and friends, and I know he will be sorely missed.

This morning I have been meetings with ministerial colleagues and others.

In addition to my duties in this House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

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