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Statement by the Prime Minister on the death of Lee Kuan Yew

Prime Minister David Cameron has made a statement following the death of Singapore's first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

The Prime Minister said:

I am sad to hear of the death of Singapore’s first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew.

Lee Kuan Yew personally shaped Singapore in a way that few people have any nation. He made his country into one of the great success stories of our modern world. That Singapore is today a prosperous, secure and successful country is a monument to his decades of remarkable public service. He was always a friend to Britain, if sometimes a critical one, and many British Prime Ministers benefited from his wise advice, including me.

Lady Thatcher once said that there was no Prime Minister she admired more than Mr Lee for ‘the strength of his convictions, the clarity of his views, the directness of his speech and his vision of the way ahead’. His place in history is assured, as a leader and as one of the modern world’s foremost statesmen.

Published 22 March 2015