The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Lord Hill of Oareford) (Con)
My Lords, today is a day for tradition: the tradition of the gracious Speech, with the Crown, the Cap of Maintenance, the Sword of State; the tradition of the heralds and the steady tramp of the Gentlemen at Arms; the tradition of a good lunch followed by the debate on an humble Address; and perhaps the most enduring tradition of them all, the predictable attack on the Government’s programme by the Leader of the Opposition.
Once again, I am glad to report that everything has gone off well, but the smooth running of the day did not happen by accident. There is a reason why everything seems to go like clockwork; it is the huge amount of effort behind the scenes by all those who have been planning, moving furniture, polishing, sweeping and cooking. Therefore, on behalf of the whole House, I should like to record our thanks to Black Rod and his team, the estates staff, the refreshment department and everybody else who has played their part.
I should also like to thank the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, for moving the Motion to adjourn and for the way she has worked on behalf of the House throughout the past year. She and I might disagree politically, but we have a shared affection for this House and how it operates. I should also like to thank my noble and learned friend Lord Wallace of Tankerness for the support he provides as Deputy Leader of the House, although I think the House misses the entertainment that was provided by my noble friend Lord McNally slamming files on the Dispatch Box. I also thank the Convenor of the Cross-Bench Peers who plays such an important part in helping keep the rest of us sane.
It is a particular pleasure for me to congratulate my noble friend Lord Fowler on his speech. As he said, he and I first got to know each other during the 1992 general election campaign when we both lurched around the country day in, day out, on the Prime Minister’s battle bus. My noble friend was always calm. Well, he was nearly always calm—I remember an occasion in Scotland. But he was always cheerful and always ready with wise advice. I had not realised until a few moments ago that my noble friend would welcome yet another return to the Front Bench. I forget how many political resurrections that would make, but I think it is better if I am straight with him. I am sorry to disappoint him, but he is far too young. However, I can easily see why successive leaders of my party turned to him when they needed help. As my noble friend himself put it in an untypically Eeyore-ish diary entry I found from 2001:
“Already used by Thatcher, Major and Hague, now in the service of my old pal Clarke. I am a media Jeeves for the politically oppressed”.
Jeeves could, of course, always be relied upon to get Bertie out of scrapes, but he is also famous for his erudition. Like Jeeves, my noble friend knows a lot, but, unlike him, he wears his learning, and his many achievements, very lightly. He was a great reformer in the Thatcher Government of the 1980s, and he was also a supremely effective Secretary of State. He ran the combined Department of Health and Social Security for six years, which is a sign of his remarkable resilience. He is a great campaigner, using the skills he learnt as a journalist on the Times, whether on seatbelts early in his political career or on press regulation more recently. His work on AIDS, given the very different climate of the 1980s, was not just far-sighted but brave. Countless thousands of people around the world have reason to be grateful to him.
I also add my congratulations to my noble friend Lady Scott of Needham Market on her speech this afternoon. A champion of local government in her native Suffolk, she got early experience of life in a coalition when she was leader of the Liberal Democrat group on Suffolk County Council, admittedly in a Lib Dem/Labour coalition. Oddly, that experience did not put her off coalition of a different hue, as she explained when she became president of the Liberal Democrats and was so from 2009 to 2011. I put this great flexibility down to her membership of an a cappella group, which, as noble Lords will know, is a group which sings in harmony without instrumental accompaniment. I think my noble friend’s skills might come in useful in the months ahead. We all look forward to the Liberal Democrat Benches singing in close harmony.
So much for the traditions. But if some things do not change, this final Session of Parliament will be different in one major respect: for the first time in history, we already know the precise date of the next general election. This may be bad news for the bookmakers, but it is actually good news for legislators. Much as we may enjoy the speculation, we will not have to have all those endless conversations in corners about whether the Prime Minister will call an early election or not, and we will be spared the paralysis that usually strikes Government in the last year of a Parliament as officials and Ministers put things on hold as they wait to see what the Prime Minister will decide about the timing of the election. This time, we know. That means we can carry on working right up until the Dissolution at the end of next March, and that is what the legislation set out in today’s gracious Speech will enable us to do.
Contrary to what the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, suggested, it will be a full programme for what will be a shorter-than-usual Session, and it follows a full legislative programme last Session, when we passed 22 Acts that: reformed the financial services market; established the simpler and fairer single tier state pension; reformed the adoption system; implemented the employment allowance; reformed the energy and water markets; and introduced a cap on costs that people will have to pay for care. These were big reforms that will deliver real benefits to millions of people. The House has also been busier than ever in holding the Government to account through debates and Select Committee work. Thanks to reforms introduced in this House last year, we had 50% more Questions for Short Debate in the previous Session than in the one before. It was also the busiest ever Session in terms of Select Committee activity. As well as our usual investigative and scrutiny committees, we had three ad hoc committees, three pre-legislative scrutiny committees and two post-legislative scrutiny committees. The work performed by all these committees is remarkable, and I place on record my thanks to noble Lords and members of staff who participate in this vital part of our work.
Over the past four years, this Government have achieved an enormous amount; if I am honest, far more than many of us might have thought likely back in 2010. The economy is set to be the fastest growing of the major economies this year; the deficit is falling; and employment is at a record high, with 1.5 million more people in work than in 2010, with the greater feeling of independence and security that having a job brings. Long overdue reforms in education and welfare are bearing fruit, but there is still more that we must do to secure Britain’s future. That is the platform on which this Session’s legislation, outlined in the gracious Speech, will build.
The legislation will help businesses of all sizes by removing unnecessary regulation. It will support investment in the country’s infrastructure, reducing our energy dependency on others and driving the growth we need to create even more jobs. It will help people to live a safe and secure life by taking measures against those who seek to profit from the misfortune of others, whether from modern slavery or from other serious crime. It will help to ensure a better retirement, with greater financial security in old age, and, at the other end of life, it will help families with young children with the costs of their childcare.
Three new Bills will start their passage in your Lordships’ House: the infrastructure Bill, the serious crime Bill and the Armed Forces (service complaints and financial assistance) Bill. In addition, four Bills will be carried over from the previous Session: the Consumer Rights Bill, the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill, the Deregulation Bill and the Wales Bill. Therefore, there will be much to keep us busy in this Chamber in the months ahead. There will be things on which we agree as well as disagree, and I hope that we will work on them in our usual constructive way.
However, whatever our differences may be in the run-up to the general election, I know that one issue will bring us together: our common desire to keep the United Kingdom united. It is not possible to exaggerate the significance of the vote that will take place on 18 September. In just over 100 days, the people of Scotland will have to make the most momentous decision they have taken in more than 300 years. Some have suggested that Members of your Lordships’ House should play no part in the debate about Scotland’s future. To them I say: we have had many Scots in this House who, proud of their inheritance, have enriched our national life in so many ways—in the arts, in business, in education, in our Armed Forces, in politics and in public service. Who is better placed than them to understand the appeal of the heart as well as the head? Of course they should speak out. However, so should Englishmen like me, who cannot claim one drop of Scottish blood yet nevertheless feel passionately that together we are so much stronger and so much more generous-spirited than we would be were we to go our separate ways. As this August we start to commemorate the sacrifices made in the Great War by men and women from all parts of the United Kingdom, it is a good time to reflect on our shared values and our shared history, remembering that the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts. The next general election is important, as general elections always are. However, the vote on Scotland’s future is not just about five years, but for ever.
The next year is therefore one of great significance. This House, as always, will be central to the debates that will shape our very future. I know that we will take our responsibilities seriously, questioning, probing, refining and, yes, improving legislation. I am enormously proud of the work we do in this House and the way in which we do it. I have no doubt that once again we will rise to the challenge of a new gracious Speech. It is in that spirit that I am delighted to support the noble Baroness’s Motion to adjourn the debate.