Speaker of the House Corine George-Massicote delivered a keynote address and attended a special audience with King Charles III last week during a London conference for parliamentary speakers from United Kingdom overseas territories.
The Fourth Commons and Overseas Territories Speakers’ Conference — which Ms. George-Massicote attended from May 13-16 with House of Assembly Deputy Clerk Linton Leonard — was hosted by Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker of the UK House of Commons.
Other delegates included speakers and clerks from Anguilla, Bermuda, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat and St. Helena, according to government.
Keynote address
During one session, Ms. George-Massicote delivered a keynote address titled “Keeping Democracy Running.”
In the speech, she explained how parliaments manage security challenges including incidents within parliamentary buildings, cyber-threats, and other issues that could disrupt their operations, according to government.
Mitigation
To mitigate such threats, she outlined various security measures, including understanding threats, establishing and regularly reviewing a security-governance framework, rigorously protecting sensitive information, maintaining safe online practices, and identifying suspicious behaviours.
Despite differences in size and unique challenges, she said, parliaments around the world face common physical and virtual threats that can affect their stability, productivity, reputation and prosperity.
Her speech was followed by input from an expert panel from the UK House of Commons, which included the director of cyber and information security, the director of security, and the director of strategic business resilience, according to government.
Buckingham Palace
Conference delegates, including speakers from the UK and the overseas territories, also went to Buckingham Palace to attend a special audience with the King, who is patron of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
The HOA is a member of the CPA, which promotes democratic governance, transparency and security in parliamentary operations.
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