Queen’s Speech

Lord Lang of Monkton Excerpts

Wednesday 8th May 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Lang of Monkton]

My Lords, when I first came to your Lordships’ House, I asked my noble friend the late lamented Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish what would happen after the State Opening. His answer was that some old codger on the Government side would be asked to propose an humble Address. Your Lordships may understand, therefore, that proud and privileged though I am to undertake this role, it brings with it a certain poignancy, as in the crossing of a threshold, as I come to realise that I am now a fully fledged member of SOCs, the society of old codgers. To my fellow members around the House I say this: we know who you are and we are all in this together.

The mood lifts instantly, however, since my first and pleasurable task is to express our gratitude and appreciation that Her Majesty the Queen has once again honoured this House with her presence to deliver the gracious Speech from the Throne. Her Majesty’s sense of duty and her vitality continue to inspire us all. Her example is followed to the letter by His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, whose unstinting support of Her Majesty at all times earns our enduring admiration and respect. We were also honoured today by the most welcome presence of their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. His Royal Highness works tirelessly in support of countless good causes, as can be shown by just one example, that of the Prince’s Trust which is now celebrating 30 immensely successful years of helping young people to get a good start in life.

In our own world, another more modest but much cherished reign has ended with the retirement from the Front Bench of our former Leader of the House, my noble friend Lord Strathclyde. His well rounded style, if I may call it that, invested our affairs with a charm that turned away wrath, quality of judgment, and a grasp of the business of politics that has brought benefit to us all over his 25 years of public service. We shall miss his bounteous hospitality.

Happily, his successor, my noble friend Lord Hill of Oareford, is cast in the same mould—metaphorically speaking. He won instant recognition on entering the House when he so effectively secured the passage of the coalition’s important education legislation. His courteous manner at the Dispatch Box and the intense work he has undertaken in his new role as our Leader win praise, I believe, from all quarters. It is an encouraging sign that, in his room here, the Leader drinks from a mug that bears the legend, “Make tea, not law”. He shares with my peerless noble friend Lady Anelay of St Johns, and, I feel sure, with the greatly esteemed noble Baroness, Lady Royall of Blaisdon, the strong conviction that courtesy and restraint are the essential watch-words for an effective self-regulating House. All three demonstrate it impressively.

The politics of any coalition are never easy, and parties can become frustrated. There are a few loose slates on the roof. However, I recall clearly how, after the general election, our two parties, acting in the national interest, each put aside its own agenda and combined in order to bring stability to the nation’s government after a near calamitous collapse of our economy. Looking back on that crisis, which was years in the making and will take years to surmount, put me in mind of the George Best school of economics. When the famous footballer was asked, towards the end of his life, how he had managed to lose his fortune, he replied that he had spent most of it on wine, women and song and the rest he had just wasted.

Putting the nation first was not mere rhetoric. We needed discipline and a new direction to avoid the abyss. To have reduced the deficit—although not yet the national debt—by one-third, and to have seen more than 1.25 million new private sector jobs created in the past two and a half years despite a state of chronic recession in the eurozone, our biggest export market, has been quite an achievement. I pay renewed tribute to Sir John Major, who won for this country the right to stay out of the euro. I welcome the continuing commitment expressed in the gracious Speech to promoting economic competitiveness through the rigorous reining back of unaffordable increases in public expenditure and to the maintenance of low interest rates. These constitute the two most fundamental of policies for growth. If we gave up on them, the burden of past extravagances would come back to haunt us. As a certain Lady once said, “There is no alternative”. In that regard, I acknowledge in particular the courage of my right honourable friends George Osborne and his Chief Secretary, the articulate and unflappable Danny Alexander. They personify the coalition at its best: stalwart, steady and united, they continue to put the nation first.

Some pundits thought that coalition would be a recipe for paralysis. However, at this half-way stage in the Parliament, it is notable how much really major legislation has reached the statute book. I am thinking of the giant strides of my right honourable friend Michael Gove in education and of my right honourable friend Iain Duncan Smith in tackling the wasteful and damaging morass of the world of welfare. These are great and far-reaching breakthroughs, of Beveridge proportions, from which one may feel sure that the nation will benefit for years to come and of which many single-party Governments, over an entire term, would be proud. Now, in the gracious Speech, there is more to come in both areas.

Indeed, the gracious Speech reveals no loss of impetus, with many significant new measures, for example on pensions and immigration. There is the long-term care and support Bill, a matter surely of compelling interest to your Lordships—we will all have to declare our interest when speaking on it. It is a measure of vital long-term importance to a growing proportion of the population. Another Bill will tackle anti-social behaviour—to which the other place may wish to pay specific attention.

A pro-business agenda is reflected in the deregulation Bill and in the employment assistance proposals. As for the HS2 paving Bill, to bring London closer to the cities of the north, as Sir Humphrey would say, “Courageous, Minister”. As one who travels regularly by train between Westminster and my home in Scotland, I feel sure that my grandchildren may benefit from it—in old age.

[Noble Lords]

Oh!

[Lord Lang of Monkton]

Contentious though it may be, the need to upgrade our infrastructure and to improve access to the country away from the south-east must surely resonate with your Lordships. Business, too, will welcome that.

In my early years here, I used to raise Scottish issues—always to be told, “That is a matter for the Scottish Parliament”. Now when Scotland features in our deliberations, it usually means trouble: most recently the Scotland Act and the order to allow a Scottish independence referendum to take place. Troubles come not singly.

Scotland is a great nation but that greatness has been achieved within the United Kingdom. The Scottish Enlightenment came after 1707; so did the great industrial growth and the global breakout, when Scots travelled the world, keeping the Sabbath—and anything else we could lay our hands on. We are the land of inventions: from the steam engine to the bicycle, the mackintosh, the television, the Glenlivet, the Glenfarclas, the Glenfiddich and the Glenmorangie—and of course the cloning of Dolly the sheep. Not many people know that copper wire was invented by two Aberdonians quarrelling over a penny.

[Noble Lords]

Oh!

[Lord Lang of Monkton]

If the forthcoming referendum were to take Scotland out of the United Kingdom, we would all suffer, but Scotland most of all. Your Lordships will have noted the passing reference in the gracious Speech to,

“co-operation with the devolved administrations”.

One cannot tell yet what that may mean but co-operation is a two-way street. I believe that constitutional fracking leads to fragmentation, so I trust that Her Majesty’s Government will always concentrate on strengthening the United Kingdom and do nothing that might weaken it. In this Parliament of our nation state are found the emblems of all its parts. The thistle stands proudly alongside the rose. I welcome the strong leadership of my right honourable friend the Prime Minister on this matter, and his commitment, echoed in the gracious Speech, to fight with unwavering determination to save the union.

It is an irony that might have delighted Messrs Gilbert and Sullivan that, in so elegantly moving this Motion last year, my noble friend Lord Cope of Berkeley was able to draw attention—with that subtle blend of loyalty and realism that is the province of all Chief Whips—to a proposed Bill for the reform of this House. That proposal was not altogether welcome here. This year, by contrast, many of your Lordships look eagerly for such a measure, but in vain. Of course, last year, for some it was a case of reform by abolition; for most, our ambitions are, I believe, more modest but more practical. One might argue that there is nothing wrong with this House that would not be solved by a little bit of quantitative easing, but there is no mention of reform of the House in the gracious Speech, so I should not speak of it and I will not—except to say:

“We are the very model of a Chamber constitutional

We simply try to better Bills with changes quite profusional

We are not revolutional; our aims are evolutional

Not to want to welcome that is surely just delusional”.

When King George V was asked by the minister of Crathie Kirk what he should preach about in his next sermon, it is said that he replied, “About seven minutes”. Happily, your Lordships have four days in which to debate the gracious Speech. The debate will range widely and one may be sure that it will benefit from the great expertise and experience to be found in all parts of the House but perhaps especially on the Cross Benches. There may even be time to contemplate those tantalising perennial words that appear at the end of every gracious Speech:

“Other measures will be laid before you”.

On one occasion, a Welsh farmer, watching the State Opening on television and hearing those words, turned to his wife and said, “Udder measures, Megan? The English must be having trouble with their cows again”.

Finally, I return to the terms of the Motion to recall that this year marks the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty the Queen’s coronation. But an even earlier occasion also springs to mind. In a broadcast marking her 21st birthday, Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth pledged her future life, whether it be long or short, to the service of this country. That vow has chimed like a clear bell through all the years since, as Her Majesty has fulfilled it with dedication and grace. Long may she continue to reign over us, for hers is a reign that will shine through history.