The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Evans of Bowes Park) (Con)
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Smith, and the noble Lord, Lord Newby, and I join them in congratulating my noble friends Lord Sherbourne and Lady Fraser on their excellent speeches. Like all of them, I thank His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales for delivering the gracious Speech and send our warmest wishes to Her Majesty the Queen. The whole House knows the reluctance with which Her Majesty made today’s decision, and her extraordinary service to this nation continues to inspire us. We look forward to the jubilee celebrations in the next few weeks and, together with the Commonwealth Games, we should have a great few months. I am sure we will all enjoy them, as we will actually have time to leave your Lordships’ House, I hope, on some early evenings.
I am honoured to stand here again today as Leader of the House ready for a new Session of Parliament. Your Lordships’ House plays a vital role in shaping the laws of the country. As the noble Baroness said, in the last Session this House debated and passed 34 government Bills and 13 Private Members’ Bills, sitting for over 1,500 hours, which I know took a lot out of all of us. As the noble Baroness rightly said, the early hours involved impressive levels of stamina and commitment. I thank your Lordships for everything they did over the last Session.
Looking ahead to the new Session, we have important legislation to scrutinise. I have no doubt that this ambitious programme will, as ever, benefit from your Lordships’ wisdom and expertise, and that your Lordships will help to ensure that the legislation can be as effective as possible.
At State Opening in May 2019, I remarked that we were grappling
“with the most significant peacetime event in our nation’s history”.—[Official Report, 14/10/19; col. 17.]
However, the challenge of Brexit was followed not by a benign period but by the immense disruption and profound impact of Covid. Now, as we move past the pandemic, war has broken out in Europe with Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. I am sure noble Lords will agree that we are, I am afraid, once again in turbulent times.
The past year has been challenging for our parliamentary community in many ways. I will take a moment to particularly remember Sir David Amess MP, who died serving his constituents. A veteran parliamentarian of almost four decades, he was admired across both Houses for his good humour, kindness and dedication to public service. I also remember colleagues from across both Houses whom we have sadly lost over the last 12 months.
This year also marks five years since the Westminster Bridge attack, of which I and many noble Lords have first-hand memories. We remember PC Keith Palmer, who tragically lost his life in the line of duty, protecting all of us and Parliament.
Last summer, over 1,000 of our Armed Forces personnel were deployed on Operation Pitting, airlifting 15,000 people from Afghanistan to safety on more than 100 flights—the largest British evacuation since the Second World War. I know that the whole House will want to acknowledge the bravery of those men and women. We were glad to see many of those soldiers on parade here in November. We pay tribute to all those who serve, and have served, in our gallant Armed Forces. Defence of the realm is the first duty of government, and we will continue to invest in our Armed Forces and maintain NATO’s collective defence in light of the significant security challenges we face. In the face of Putin’s aggression, we are proud that the UK has led on sanctions, humanitarian aid and, of course, in providing defensive weapons to the brave Ukrainian armed forces defending their country—over 20,000 of whom have been trained by British troops since 2015. Slava Ukraini.
The last State Opening took place amid Covid precautions and, as a result, was a much pared-back affair. It was slightly shocking when I came in today and saw so many of your Lordships here. It is fantastic to see all noble Lords and, once again, for us to be such an integral part of such an important day here in Parliament and for the country. On behalf of your Lordships, I congratulate Black Rod, her staff and the doorkeepers on making today’s ceremony such a success and I thank the police service for working tirelessly today and in advance of State Opening. I thank the House staff for their enduring professionalism in ensuring that your Lordships’ House runs smoothly all year round and particularly for their efforts over the last Session. I know that we have asked a lot of them over the last few months and they rose to every challenge we gave them—we all thank them very much for that.
My thanks also go to the noble Baroness, Lady Smith, the noble Lord, Lord Newby, their respective Chief Whips and the noble and learned Lord, Lord Judge, for their ongoing co-operation and good spirits—most of the time, I think we can say—through the usual channels. The Chief Whip and I genuinely appreciate the constructive and positive relationships we have; we know that we have stretched them at points, but we look forward to working closely together again over the coming Session.
Finally, I am delighted to add my congratulations to my noble friends Lord Sherbourne and Lady Fraser, who have so ably proposed and seconded the Motion for the humble Address. There are few Peers as universally liked and respected across the House as my noble friend Lord Sherbourne. He is a rare and wonderful mix of enjoying a good gossip while being a soul of discretion. He sees the best in people, except of course if they drop litter—the subject of several speeches in this House and at least one letter to the Times. Prior to taking his seat in your Lordships’ House, my noble friend had a distinguished career. He must have worked for more Conservative leaders than anyone else alive: Ted Heath, Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Michael Howard. Anyone who can work for both Ted Heath and Margaret Thatcher, and command the confidence of both, has a unique quality or an extraordinary range of political flexibility. I have been told that it is perhaps the same flexibility—and I have seen this—that leads him to say, when out at lunch, “As you know, I never eat puddings”, yet somehow immediately order one and enjoy it very much. So amicable is my noble friend that even Ted Heath, who was not noted for his forgiveness, kept cordial relations with him through thick and thin. I understand that he did not even complain when my noble friend lost his briefcase in a New York limo, containing the only copy of a speech that Ted Heath was about to deliver. I think the cordial relations remained because it was discovered in the nick of time.
It seems that my noble friend has an issue with speeches. On another occasion he was woken by a phone call from Mrs Thatcher saying, “This speech simply will not do”. That was a problem, as she was due to deliver it later that day, so he rushed to No. 10 to work up a new version. “Job done”, he thought, “Excellent”, and they got in the car to Battersea heliport. Unfortunately, her car stopped mid-journey when she discovered he had left the final pages of her peroration in the study. Cue a bit of a fracas and a rush back to No. 10, but once again all was well.
I also congratulate my noble friend Lady Fraser. As the first professional choreologist in your Lordships’ House, I am sure everyone will agree that her speech was as eloquent as, no doubt, her choreographic work is. Noble Lords will know of the important work—I think my noble friend mentioned it—that she does as CEO of Cerebral Palsy Scotland, a fantastic organisation that helps those with cerebral palsy build skills, knowledge, confidence and relationships. As the noble Lord said, my noble friend Lady Fraser demonstrated her compassion and expertise in your Lordships’ House during the passage of the Health and Care Act.
I have heard my noble friend describe herself as a unionist by descent, given that her great-grandfather sat in the other place as a Unionist MP. At her home in Dunbartonshire before the 2014 independence referendum, she installed a couple of wildlife cameras in the grounds, no doubt hoping to catch glimpses of hedgehog or roe deer. She did not record much animal life, but at the height of the Scottish referendum campaign, she was able to amuse friends with videos of “Yes” supporters ripping down and driving off with the “No” banners she had put up in various hapless ways. In resilient fashion, when the cameras found the banners scattered around, she put them back up. Resilient to the end is my noble friend.
Naturally, for someone with a Glasgow postcode, the usual question is “Rangers or Celtic?”, but not for my noble friend Lady Fraser. Leicester City is her secret pleasure, a fact I know the noble and learned Lord, Lord Judge, will be delighted to hear—another fan in the House.
There have been a number of changes on the Government Benches over the past year. I am incredibly grateful to my current Front Bench team for their hard work and support, and I put on record my thanks to those who have stepped down over the last 12 months: my noble friends Lord Bethell, Lord Agnew, Lord Frost, Lord Wolfson and Lady Berridge. Fortunately, we continue to benefit from their involvement in the work of the House from the Back Benches. Meanwhile, we have welcomed to our Front Bench team my noble friends Lord Harrington, Lord Kamall and Lord Offord, as well as many Peers across the Benches of the House. As my noble friend said, we look forward in this Session to everybody being able to participate here in person, in our usual manner.
The legislative programme set out in the Queen’s Speech represents a comprehensive and ambitious agenda. We will focus on growing and strengthening the economy to help address the cost of living pressures, mentioned by all contributors today, that are being felt by people across our country. We will level up opportunity in all parts of the UK. We want to ensure that everyone, no matter where they live, shares in our joint success. The levelling up and regeneration Bill will empower local leaders to drive growth and prosperity in their communities, while the transport Bill will improve connectivity across the length and breadth of our country. We will support households and help more people into work. We will drive the transition to cheaper, cleaner and more secure energy. We will raise school standards and improve the quality of education across the country, and, of course, we will continue to tackle the Covid backlogs in the NHS to ensure that everyone can access the healthcare they need.
Outside the EU, we will harness the benefits of Brexit to generate growth. We will cut unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy through the Brexit freedoms Bill, reforms in the procurement Bill will help to support small businesses, while the implementation of our first free trade agreement since leaving the European Union will open up new trading opportunities for British businesses. I know we all support the continued success and integrity of the whole of the United Kingdom—this is, of course, of paramount importance to the Government—including the economic bonds between all four nations. We will continue to prioritise support for the Belfast/Good Friday agreement.
We will make our streets safer with public order and national security Bills, we will tackle the scourge of modern slavery, an issue I know that your Lordships hold dear, and we will further strengthen powers to tackle economic crime. We will push ahead with the Online Safety Bill, making the UK the safest place in the world to be online, while defending free speech.
This Government will continue to provide the leadership needed in these most challenging times. At home, we will introduce a Bill of Rights, prevent public bodies engaging in boycotts that undermine community cohesion, ban conversion therapy and push ahead with the higher education Bill, protecting freedom of debate on university campuses. Abroad, we will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine and defend democracy and freedom across the world.
This is a Government elected with a clear vision for the future of our country. We face challenging times at home and abroad, and we remain determined to deliver for the British people. I support the Motion.