 Merry Christmas. Christmas is a time for hope and of course reflection. For Christians it is a sacred time as we come to the end of Advent and herald the birth of God's Son Jesus. It is a time for us all to come together with friends and family to reflect on the year that was. I know there's many of us who cannot be with family this year such as our dedicated frontline service workers tirelessly working to help the vulnerable or those brave service personnel serving our nation overseas. On behalf of all of us I say thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. 2022 like any year has given us joy and of course sadness. In September we mourned the passing of her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II whose reign defined generations. She was a stoic constant in our nation's shared memory. As the minister who had the privilege of his life when I oversaw the operation for the funeral of her Majesty, operation London Bridge as it's referred to, I saw firsthand the outpouring of admiration and love for her Majesty. Churches and other places of worship opened their doors to invite people from all walks of life to attend services of remembrance, sign books of condolences and be places of just quiet reflection and contemplation. Thousands came out in person to line the procession route of her Majesty to her final resting place at Windsor, respectfully mourning the loss of a truly great Britain. 250,000 people queued for over 14 hours to pay their own respects, 250,000 in Hyde Park and of course great she was which is why I wholeheartedly believe that she is and will forever be known as Elizabeth the Great. And with her passing our Christmas traditions have changed. King Charles III will give his first Christmas address as sovereign today addressing the people of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and the world. As we come together with our own families today let us just remember those families in Ukraine who are valiantly defending their homeland from Putin's barbaric war machine. So let's keep them in our thoughts, stand with them shoulder to shoulder and redouble our efforts to support them towards victory. Slava Ukraine. To all our party members and the entire country I wish you have a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.