Queen’s Speech

Baroness Falkner of Margravine Excerpts

Tuesday 25th May 2010 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Falkner of Margravine]

My Lords, I beg to second my noble friend’s Motion for an humble Address. It is a privilege to follow the noble Earl, Lord Ferrers, in our proceedings today. The noble Earl’s membership of this House is in its sixth decade, as he reminded us, he having taken his title here in 1954, before I was born in a distant military hospital in Quetta the following year. In that time, he has served on the ministerial Benches with distinction in no fewer than five different Conservative Administrations. But apart from our new-found friendship on the government Benches—I am not entirely sure about being a suffragette chained to the noble Earl—I trace another link to him. His line descends from the Shirleys of Astwell Castle in Northamptonshire, while my link to that illustrious county lies in my role as the inaugural chancellor of the University of Northampton. Northamptonshire is well served in this House, with several noble Lords having connections there. They include the noble Baroness, Lady Billingham, a former MEP for the region, the noble Baroness, Lady Manningham-Buller, and my noble friend Lord Naseby. It is a county well versed in both continuity and change.

It is a rare distinction to second the humble Address in the knowledge that you are the first Liberal in 96 years to do so, following Lord Methuen in 1914, but it does not seem a long period, given the swathe of reforms envisaged in the gracious Address. There is much unfinished business from our time in the 1910 and 1914 Governments yet to do, and, yes, we Liberals are always mindful of the long game. Even the noble Lord, Lord Steel, has had his patience tested in our fulfilling his instructions to prepare for government. I suspect that he did not intend us to take quite this long. But here we are, and perhaps it is the beginning of a trend. We shall see.

There were not many among our ranks on these government Benches and, I dare say, the Opposition who, when looking at where the voters told us to go on 6 May, could have envisaged this day. The spirit with which our two parties have come together for this programme of government is remarkable. It takes good judgment to see clearly what is legitimate, but it takes courage to walk in a direction you have not been before, and the leaders of both parties have displayed bagfuls of that. Having said that, it is still a little strange to see my noble friend the leader of the Liberal Democrats sitting in such close proximity to the Leader of the House. While this is undoubtedly good for the country, I hope it will not deprive us of the humour we have all enjoyed as they have torn strips off each other on opposition Benches in the past few years. The whole House will wish to join me in congratulating the noble Lords, Lord Strathclyde and Lord McNally, and the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, and the noble Lord, Lord Shutt, on their new roles. I am enormously grateful to the noble Lords, Lord McNally and Lord Shutt, for their generosity in allowing me the opportunity to address the House today.

Opportunity does not present itself with 20:20 vision. When, at a drinks party in 1987, I confessed to a lady called Celia Thomas—now the noble Baroness, Lady Thomas of Winchester—that I was a member of the SDP, she enrolled me in the Liberal Whips Office in about three minutes. Later, I was interviewed to be a researcher by the then Chief Whip, now the Advocate-General for Scotland, the noble Lord, Lord Wallace of Tankerness. He asked what I brought to the table. Well, in Asia, we are not backward about coming forward, and I went in for all the special pleading: gender, race, religion, even age—I was younger then, but older than the usual suspects. Then, and only as a last resort, I said it was because I wanted to change the world and make a difference. He sat upright. “In that case, why on earth do you want to come to us?” he asked. “We are not going to be the Government any time soon”. Reflecting on the political road I have taken reminds me of the words of the American poet Robert Frost:

“I never dared be radical when young for fear it would make me conservative when old”.

Change and its compromises are very much part of my background. With parents who migrated from India to Pakistan, I grew up in a military family that was, by definition, itinerant in a culture that took moving around for granted. As many noble Lords from similar backgrounds will testify, all aspiring south Asians are second to none in spotting greener pastures elsewhere. We are living proof of the dictum of the noble Lord, Lord Tebbit, to get on our bikes, hence our large numbers in this country contributing across all fields of social and economic endeavour.

But the most precious thing this country gives is freedom, day in and day out. I had never voted in an election until I naturalised as a citizen in 1983 and then cast my first vote in the general election of 1987. The thrill of a blunt pencil marking a cross against a name on a secret ballot is something never to be forgotten when you do it for the first time. My only regret is that I have done it in only four general elections, but then, this House has other compensations.

In this House, there is great support for wise deliberation, and time and time again, we see strange bedfellows coming together through the call of principle. I have found myself agreeing with the Bishops, which is a little strange for a non-Christian—and even from time to time with the noble Lord, Lord Waddington, which is stranger still—but, whether in agreement or not, I have always been persuaded to respect opposing positions.

In this spirit of shared objectives and mutual respect, our two proud parties have come together to propose this programme for government. Against the backdrop of the severest financial environment in generations, it would have been permissible to concentrate on bread and butter issues and to set aside lofty ideals, but fundamentals are the foundation stones of this edifice, and no more important as fundamentals are the values of freedom, fairness and responsibility, and they will become all the more important when underpinned by the sacrifices that so many will have to make to restore our country’s economic strength.

While our Government will have to undertake the task of cutting public expenditure, it is right and proper that this be done fairly, with the lightest burden falling on those who have the least. This will be made easier through having independent economic reporting, which the new Office for Budget Responsibility will provide. Removing barriers to flexible working will be essential in this economic climate, and promoting equal pay is long overdue and will help millions, as will a simplified and fairer benefit system. Restoring a balanced Budget will require resolve and determination, and Messrs Osborne and Laws in the other place will do well to remember the words of the Republican senator Phil Gramm on Budgets:

“Balancing the budget is like going to heaven. Everybody wants to do it, but nobody wants to do what you have to do to get there”.

Real fairness also extends to our compact with those beyond our shores, and I am proud to be associated with the gracious Speech, which says unequivocally that we will honour the commitment to reach the UN target on international aid by 2013. Many might say that in this age of austerity compassion to others should take second place, but if the bonds of our common humanity are to mean anything they should bind in bad times as in good.

The most important value that binds us as partners in this endeavour is our mutual attachment to individual liberty and freedom. It will be a good day for our country when our children are no longer fingerprinted at school, when we as citizens do not have to carry ID cards, and when those who disagree with us can protest peacefully without being arrested. In this House, I am conscious, too, that the parts of the gracious Speech that will provoke the most interest will be those to do with the reform and renewal of politics. Fixed-term Parliaments will bring much needed stability to the policy planning process; the reform of this House has taken about 100 years too long, as any Liberal will tell you; and, while my preference is for a partly elected House, elections through proportional representation will give us a far more representative Chamber than we have today. Restoring trust in our political institutions is not something that we can consign to the back burner any longer.

As we on these Benches go into partnership, let me offer a word of advice to my noble friend the Government Chief Whip. She should not be taken in by my noble friend Lord McNally’s northern “can-do-ness”—all male and authoritative, as he comes across. He comes from a long line of Liberal Democrat leaders who quickly realise when they lead those on these Benches that we have at least as many opinions as our numbers. We are ever original, often argumentative, and about as coherent and disciplined as a teenage dorm at St Trinian’s, so she will need to go softly with him when he shuffles up to her with an undertaker’s air to say that we will not do as he tells us.

If the past two weeks have been a long time in politics, five years may well seem like an eternity, but we will learn from each other, too. In Tom Wolfe’s words:

“If a conservative is a liberal who’s been mugged, a liberal is a conservative who’s been arrested”.

This Government will bring balance to both points of view.

Today is a sobering day. Today we recognise the heavy burdens of office, but we do so with a spring in our step in our resolve to try to serve our country to the best of our abilities. That is what we have been called upon to do.