Cameron: The Queen grounds us in certainty
The prime minister leads the proceedings at the Address to Her Majesty, paying tribute to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee:
"The reign of Queen Elizabeth has been one of unparalleled change, from rationing through to the jet age, to the space age, to the digital age.
"At her first investiture as Queen, the very first decoration she presented was a Victoria Cross for heroism in the Korean war.
"Since then, members of the armed forces—her armed forces—have been in action all over the world, from Aden to the Falklands, the Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Around the world, dictatorships have died and democracies have been born, and across the old British empire a vibrant Commonwealth of nations has expanded and flourished.
"While the sands of culture shift and the tides of politics ebb and flow, Her Majesty has been a permanent anchor, bracing Britain against the storms, grounding us in certainty.
"Crucially, simultaneously, she has moved the monarchy forward. It has been said that the art of progress is to preserve order amid change and change amid order, and in this the Queen is unparalleled."
