David Lammy

thumb|David Lammy David Lindon Lammy (born 19 July 1972) is a British politician and lawyer who served as Foreign Secretary from July 2024 to September 2025 and then Deputy Prime Minister, Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor until July 2026. A member of the Labour Party, he was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tottenham at a by-election in 2000. Lammy held junior ministerial positions under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown between 2002 and 2010. Quotes Henry VII. 2009, in response to the question, "Who succeeded Henry VIII?" This tweet from the BBC is crass and unnecessary. Do we really need silly innuendo about the race of the next Pope? Twitter, 12 March 2013, as reported by the BBC. Lammy was confused by the black and white smoke used in papal conclaves. He is a white, upper-middle class man who I suspect has never, ever visited a tower block housing estate and certainly hasn't slept the night on the 20th floor of one... It is a shame we couldn't find a woman to lead this inquiry or indeed an ethnic minority to lead the inquiry in 2017. Criticising the appointment of Sir Martin Moore-Bick to lead the Grenfell Tower inquiry. July 2017 as Caribbean people we are not going to forget our history — we don't just want to hear an apology, we want reparation! 19 April 2018 I am here, because you were there. We are here, because you were there. Facebook post, 30 April 2018 My own career in law and politics owes so much to the U.S., which gave me the honor of becoming the first black Briton to study at Harvard Law School. The land of the free has overwhelmingly been a force for progress around the world. When Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of his dreams for emancipation in the 1950s and 1960s, he empowered black people far beyond America’s 50 states. The president's threats to NATO and the U.N. are no more logical than arson. His trade wars with the E.U. and China could trigger the next great economic crisis of our times. Trump is not only a woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathizing sociopath. He is also a profound threat to the international order that has been the foundation of Western progress for so long. "I'm a British Lawmaker. Here's Why I'm Protesting Trump’s Visit to the U.K.", Time (10 July 2018) The world does not need any more white saviours.As I’ve said before, this just perpetuates tired and unhelpful stereotypes. Let’s instead promote voices from across the continent of Africa and have serious debate. Tweets, as cited in "'White saviour' row: David Lammy denies snubbing Comic Relief", The Guardian (28 February 2019) I would say that that wasn't strong enough... I don't care how elected they were: so was the far right in Germany. When asked if comparing the European Research Group to the Nazi Party was an "unacceptable comparison". Interview with Andrew Marr, April 2019 The DNA results gave me something I had longed for. Something more than a biography, a backstory or a culture. The results gave me the potential to discover more about my biological heritage. Suddenly, a genetic sense of self, an appreciation that I came from a specific group of people from a definable location, allowed me to identify as more than just a 'descendant of slaves'. Previously there had been a hole in my understanding of where I came from. This new information filled the gap. I began to empathize with the type of belonging about which I had sometimes been cynical. In the past, I might have rolled my eyes if someone told me they were descended from Viking, Norman or Celtic stock, but now I understood what they were getting at. Tribes: A Search for Belonging in a Divided Society (2020) You're going to struggle to find any politician in the Western world who hasn't had things to say in response to Donald Trump. From a speech at the Hudson Institute, Washington DC (8 May 2024), as cited in "Donald Trump often misunderstood on Nato, says Labour's David Lammy", BBC News (9 May 2024) We cannot be blown off course by an imperialist fascist Talking about Vladimir Putin. From Becky Morton, Ukraine missile request under discussion - Lammy, BBC news, 15 September 2024. External links Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs of Great Britain and the United Kingdom Category:Labour Party (UK) politicians Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom Category:Lawyers from England Category:People from London