Cllr Tom Simon in the council chamber last night (Monday)

LEADER of the opposition Tom Simon has said people will be ‘pinching themselves’ to realise that the Queen has really died – but it was time to draw inspiration from the late monarch.

The Liberal Democrat was speaking as Camden Council held a special all-member meeting last night (Monday) in which councillors, aldermen, members of the public and Town Hall staff paid tribute to the Queen.

Here is what Cllr Simon said:

“Liberal Democrats join members from across all parties expressing our deepest condolences on the death of Her Majesty the Queen and join people from across Camden in mourning this great loss.

We have all heard stories over the last few days about how the Queen touched people’s lives in ways sometimes simple and sometimes profound. Some of these recollections show her wisdom, others have warmth, some show her sense of duty, others a sense of humour.

No doubt we will hear more stories this evening of how she touched the lives of people here in Camden. These stories combined to remind us of the Queen that was, of the service she gave, and the great presence: the rock in our national psyche that has been taken from us.

Whether or not we had the privilege of meeting her, whether or not we can point to some direct impact she had on our lives, she was the foundation on which the edifice of our nation has rested for so many years. She was for many people, the tie that bound us together across generations, faiths and cultures.

She will be sorely missed, and I suspect a lot of us will be pinching ourselves for some time to come to realise that. Yes, she has gone.

Queen Elizabeth also provided us as a nation with a mystic cord of memory to our past: the highs and lows, the good and the bad.

And an aspect of this that stands out is that her death I feel is symbolic of the passing of that final generation that lived through the terror of the Second World War and the efforts to build a better world in the aftermath.

With her loss that time feels more distant and less real, and as a nation we should be mindful of this, lest we take those events for granted. We have lost the monarch who provided great comfort to this realm.

She showed us duty with compassion, gravity with warmth, wisdom with humour – for many, many years.

And as councillors, as we seek to address the many problems facing people here in Camden, we can all draw inspiration from the example that she set.

King Charles III won’t be able to match Queen Elizabeth for the length of service but he will no doubt bring his own character to the role before him.

We wish him well and hope that he can make up for what we have lost.”