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.