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Nelson Mandela: Civic event in Westminster to celebrate life Nelson Mandela's life celebrated at event in Westminster Hall
(about 14 hours later)
Politicians, musicians and artists are to celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela at a special event in Westminster. Politicians, musicians and artists are celebrating the life of Nelson Mandela at a special event in Westminster.
Veteran activist Tony Benn, Commons Speaker John Bercow and TUC leader Frances O'Grady will be among those paying tribute to the former South African president, who died last week. Foreign Secretary William Hague called the former South African president, who died last week, a "man of towering moral stature" and an "inspiration".
Singer Joan Armatrading and the South African Cultural Choir will perform. Labour leader Ed Miliband said Mr Mandela represented "universal values" of equality, tolerance and justice.
The commemoration will take place in Westminster Hall, where Mr Mandela addressed parliamentarians in 1996. The commemoration is taking place in Westminster Hall, where Mr Mandela addressed parliamentarians in 1996.
Thursday's event is intended as an opportunity for people from different walks of life and the South African diaspora in the UK to recognise Mr Mandela's achievements and legacy. Liberal Democrat deputy leader Simon Hughes hailed Mr Mandela as having saved South Africa, under the apartheid system, from civil war.
Foreign Secretary William Hague, Labour leader Ed Miliband and House of Lords Speaker Baroness d'Souza will be among parliamentarians to speak. Veteran activist and former Labour MP Tony Benn told the audience Mr Mandela had fought for justice, "not as a South African, or a black, but as a member of the human race".
Lord Joffe, the South African-born lawyer who represented Nelson Mandela at the Rivonia trial which led to his 27-year imprisonment and Dillon Woods, son of the journalist and anti-apartheid campaigner Donald Woods - whose books were the inspiration for the 1980s film Cry Freedom - will also given personal tributes. He added: "I express my deepest gratitude to him and all those who worked with him."
The event is intended as an opportunity for people from different walks of life and the South African diaspora in the UK to recognise Mr Mandela's achievements and legacy.