Following my retirement from the House of Commons in 2017 I returned to Westminster as a member of the House of Lords.  I was very delighted to find myself co-opted to the Executive Committee of the UK branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA).  After the General Election of 2019 I was gratified to be elected to a place on the Committee.

This has not led to a spate of travel.  I have been no further than Jersey on CPA business.  For obvious reasons the pandemic has forced us into remote working and it is surprising how much it has been possible to achieve by linking countries together through use of technology.  There has perhaps been no more important time to maintain and strengthen our links with Commonwealth countries.