Alan Beith's Work Recognised with Knighthood

12.01.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sat 14th Jun 2008

Liberal Democrat MP Alan Beith has been awarded a Knighthood in the 2008 Queen's Birthday Honours, in recognition for his services to Parliament.

Alan Beith, who has been the Member of Parliament for the Berwick-upon-Tweed constituency for 35 years, said:

"I am delighted, partly because this award is in recognition for services to Parliament, and I think the work of Parliament is important. It gets a bad name, sometimes deservedly, but we need an effective Parliament to hold the Government to account and I have spent a lot of my time trying to make it more effective.

"I am also grateful to all the people who help and support me, because without them I would not be able to do the job."

It was announced last year that Alan Beith will be standing as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Berwick-upon-Tweed at the next general election.