House of Commons Hansard Debates for 24 Nov 1998 (pt 3)

Dr. Lynda Clark (Edinburgh, Pentlands): I am honoured to second the motion moved so ably by my hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (Mr. Ashton). It is obvious from his warmth and humanity why my hon. Friend has been re-elected many times by his constituents.

My relationship with the constituency of Edinburgh, Pentlands is not quite so long standing. However, the constituency has a proud tradition of retaining the same elected Member for many years--the only slight problem is that, in the past, it was a Conservative Member. For obvious reasons, I praise the judgment of my constituents who changed that history. However, I reassure them that I will not ask to stay in this place for 30 years, as that might test their patience to exhaustion.

It is an honour for me to follow in the tradition of women like Peggy Herbison, Shirley Summerskill andmy right hon. Friend the Member for Dewsbury (Mrs. Taylor). My right hon. Friend was the last woman to make this speech, as long ago as 1975--not that she looks that old. The consequences of seconding this motion may seem pretty grim; they are certainly variable. Some hon. Members, such as my right hon. Friend, have shot to stardom as Cabinet Ministers and some have immediately lost their seats at the next election. I trust that a less traumatic middle way--because it is new Labour--may be possible for me. Whatever happens, our electorates will be there to remind all hon. Members where the paths of glory lead.

This honour is still new to me, and I hope that all hon. Members will share my pleasure in it. My only problem is how to make a speech in support of the motion that hon. Members on both sides of the House will not judge to be sycophantic and the Labour Whips will not judge to be rebellious. That is a difficult task. I do not carry a pager, but my recent experiences of life without one have almost convinced me of the error of my ways. Last week, I moved to a new flat in London. To be frank, I moved in a small van surrounded by my goods and chattels in bin bags--such is the glamorous life of a Member of Parliament in London. I arrived at this place looking rather dusty and dishevelled, and I realised for the first time why baths have been provided on the premises. I made use of the bath in the Lady Members' Room while my messages waited--in the old-fashioned way--on the message board. Time passed, I got washed and changed, and then I collected my messages and discovered that I had been selected for this honour. If I had had a pager, I would have realised that while I was in the van with my bin bags, and my whole day would have been much better.

I realise, of course, that the real honour belongs to my constituents in Pentlands. Hon. Members who have been fortunate enough to visit my constituency will be aware of its scenic beauty, its charming villages which have become part of the greater community, the enviable reputation of its schools and universities, its many churches and its very hospitable residents. However, there are also serious problems of unemployment and poverty.

In only 18 months as a Member of Parliament, I have become very proud of my constituents. I have had hundreds of letters from all parts of the constituency. Many of them concern issues that relate to the wider community such as environment, foreign policy, immigration, social justice, welfare reform and human rights. Those constituents, like many people in Britain,

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are outward looking and conscious of the fact that they have a responsibility and interest that transcend all national boundaries. As their Member of Parliament, I try to act as their advocate in the Scottish tradition, without fear or favour. I am proud of their wide concerns, which I share.

I look forward to working with constituents and Members of the Scottish Parliament to create a fairer society, extending opportunity and respecting human rights. That is one reason why I welcome the Gracious Speech.

The outline of the Government's programme is impressive. It builds on the programme of constitutional reform and social justice that the Government have already done so much to deliver. On constitutional reform, I welcome the Bill to remove the voting powers of hereditary peers. I cannot say that it will lead to dancing in the streets of Pentlands, but I might have a little dance.

The opportunity for pre-legislative scrutiny of a draft freedom of information Bill underlines the Government's commitment to open government. I put in a special plea for the Select Committee on Public Administration to keep the Bill.

My constituents will be pleased about the proposed changes to the national health service. The NHS Bill will end GP fundholding and create primary care trusts. That will help to ensure that local health service needs are shaped by GPs and community nurses. They are on the front line and they know what the problems are.

For many unemployed people in my constituency, obtaining a job is the first step to independence and financial security. The working families tax credit, which my hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw also welcomed, will help many people. It will provide extra help directly into the pay packet for child care costs.

I welcome also the fairness at work Bill. That will encourage family-friendly employment and provide a mechanism for implementing the EU directive on part-time working. In my work as a lawyer, I am aware of the many iniquities suffered by part-time workers, who are often women who have no pension or illness benefits and who are poorly paid.

I welcome also the Bill to set up a disability rights commission. That will be welcomed not only by disabled constituents but by all who have an interest in fairness and opening up opportunity.

Being keen, diligent and new, I was going to give the House a commentary on all the Bills, but those who are more experienced took me aside, had a word in my ear and said that that was a very bad idea. Indeed, one hon. Member said that it did not matter what I said, as long as I was brief. That sounded like good advice. Briefly then, I commend the Gracious Speech to the House.

2.58 pm

Mr. William Hague (Richmond, Yorks): I begin, as is traditional and proper, by paying tribute to the one hon. Member who died during the previous Session. I cannot claim to have known Gordon McMaster well, but I know that he was well liked by many hon. Members on both sides of the House. He shared with many of us a passionate commitment to advancing the cause of disabled people, and I pay tribute to his work on that issue and others. He is greatly missed.

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I use this opportunity to express once again my sorrow at the death of Sir Michael Shersby. Michael died within days of the general election but just before the previous Session started. He was a great loss to his family, his constituents and the House.

It is a happier tradition at the opening of this debate that the Leader of the Opposition congratulates the hon. Members who proposed and seconded the Loyal Address. I can do that without reservation today. Traditionally, the Government ask one bright, rising Member of the House, who they hope will be helpful in future, and one old-timer who has been sporadically helpful in the past. They have done that on this occasion.

The hon. and learned Member for Edinburgh, Pentlands (Dr. Clark) made a good speech. She was first elected to the House last year. She is one of only seven female Queen's counsels in Scotland--a mark of her great distinction, which she displayed this afternoon. I had to delve quite deeply into her impressive CV to find its highlight, which was that she represented her university at ice dancing. She might reflect on the fact that skating on thin ice and going to the Bar are ideal preparations for being a Member of Parliament. Indeed, she skated on thin ice this afternoon when she said that she was not wearing a pager. If she is the Torvill of the afternoon, is the hon. Member for Bassetlaw (Mr. Ashton) her Dean? She looked pretty worried when the hon. Gentleman mentioned "The Full Monty".

Whether the hon. and learned Member for Pentlands would agree with all the views held by the hon. Member for Bassetlaw, I do not know. The hon. Gentleman has a position of great influence in the House because he is on the Catering Committee--

Mr. Ashton indicated dissent.

Mr. Hague: Oh, he was on the Catering Committee. Last year, he ensured the restoration of northern male dishes to the menus in the restaurants of the House because, he said, Labour women Members of Parliament had made it

"like a Kensington wine bar".

I do not want to embarrass him. One journalist said of the hon. Gentleman:

"if the Daily Mirror editorial column were to walk the earth in human form, it would look and sound like"

him.

This month, the hon. Member for Bassetlaw commemorates the 30th anniversary of his first election to the House. Throughout that time, he has always been outspoken and principled and a determined fighter for the causes in which he believes and for the constituents whose interests he was elected to represent. He told me recently that his daughter got a good reception when, as a trainee journalist, she knocked on my mother's door and asked to do an interview. As the hon. Gentleman was an outspoken opponent of the national lottery, I think he should be thankful that she did not knock on Auntie Marge's door--and I do not recommend her doing so in future.

The hon. Member for Bassetlaw is also a keen enthusiast of Sheffield Wednesday. He will agree that being interested in sport helps one to keep life in

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perspective. As I reminded someone the other day, I support Rotherham United at football, Wales at rugby and Yorkshire at cricket. When one supports those teams, the result of the general election is just a minor irritation.

I have not finished with the hon. Gentleman yet. He is a talented man because he has published a play anda novel. The play was called "A Majority of One". When my secretary asked the Library for a copy, the Library said that the hon. Gentleman had made it clear that he did not want anyone to have it at the moment. Unfortunately for the hon. Gentleman, I had already got hold of the novel "Grass Roots".

The hon. Gentleman maintains that the novel is not autobiographical, but its main character is someone who was elected to the House, to represent a northern town, as the narrow Labour victor at a by-election when a Labour Government were in office. The hon. Gentleman showed an uncanny gift for prediction. Page 183 of the novel states:

"The Ministers made all the decisions, together with the civil servants in Whitehall. They asked no advice from back benchers, and no help except to vote for the policies in the Chamber of the House of Commons. As far as he could see the back bencher was merely lobby-fodder.

All they were required to do was to be walking rubber stamps . . . Everything over and above that was merely superfluous activity . . . to gain publicity . . .

Indignantly, he sat up in bed. What a load of hypocrisy."

Given that he wrote that in 1977, he showed amazing foresight. Remarking on how the Labour Cabinet conducted its business, he wrote:

"They manipulated the system by giving out information in winks, leaks, nods and innuendoes"--

how could anyone imagine such a thing happening?--

"to privileged journalists rather than in a true democratic way by all the party arriving at a collective decision . . . It was sheer humbug."

What tremendous predictive powers the hon. Gentleman had, although the alarming thing is that a year ago the book was on the fiction shelf in the Library, but now it is filed under current affairs.

I congratulate unreservedly the proposer and seconder of the motion.

I should say what we welcome in the Queen's Speech. We are delighted that the presidents of Germany and China will be paying state visits. We shall certainly give them a warm welcome. I hope that the Foreign Secretary and others will forgive me for observing that we have not done too well with visiting dignitaries in recent months. A certain pattern is emerging. The invitation goes out months in advance. Two days before the visitor arrives, an article in The Sun gives a grovelling apology, but turns out to have been written by the Prime Minister's press secretary. The day before the visitor arrives, an article in one of his home newspapers denies the apology--not written by the Prime Minister's press secretary. Then there is the ritual of the arrival. On the day itself, there is the red carpet at 3 o'clock, the VIP party at 4, the contract signing at 5, the hospital at 6, the arrest at 7 and the extradition at 8. They know how to do things, this Government.

We welcome and will support other items in the Queen's Speech. We will support the creation of a disability rights commission, although we shall look closely at the detail. I hope that the commission will ensure that the landmark disability rights legislation,

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which I took through the House, is properly enforced and leads to a lasting change for disabled people. We shall also look at and debate in detail the financial regulations Bill and the asylum and youth justice Bill. We welcome the part-privatisation of the Commonwealth Development Corporation, so that it is free to build on the excellent work that it has done in dozens of developing countries. I am sure that all stages of the Bill's passage through the House will be well attended--if only for the immense pleasure of seeing the Secretary of State for International Development take her first privatisation measure through the House of Commons.

On Iraq, we welcome the Government's declared readiness to use force against Saddam Hussein if he fails to co-operate with United Nations weapons inspectors. As I said to the Prime Minister last week, he will have our full support if force is necessary, including the use of force without further warning. We believe that it should be an aim of alliance policy to remove Saddam from power, given that his appetite for brinkmanship with the UN, for creating instability in the region, which damages our interests, and for creating weapons of mass destruction seems endless.