§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, with the permission of the House, I should like to make a short Statement.
The House will be aware that the President of Pakistan will be arriving in this country on Thursday, November 17, to commence a State Visit. Her Majesty will meet the President at the Tate Gallery at 2.45 p.m. and the procession will then drive along the Embankment past the Palace of Westminster and up Whitehall. The House of Lords may be sitting at the time the procession passes and I have been concerned to ensure that the right of access to the 1065 palace of Westminster should be enjoyed by Press and should not be interrupted.
The Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis will do everything possible to comply with the Sessional Order of this House directing him to keep the passages through the streets leading to the House free and open during the Session of Parliament, and the road will be kept open for Peers until the last possible moment before the procession actually passes the Palace of Westminster and be reopened as soon as the procession has passed. It is also intended to keep the footpath in front of the Palace of Westminster empty, and, to assist Peers, the Commissioner of Police will make available windscreen labels with directions on the reverse on the most suitable routes to be followed to the House. Your Lordships will appreciate, however, that while the procession is actually passing the Palace of Westminster, access may be temporarily impeded, although the Underground subway will still be available. The period during which access will be limited will be very short and any inconvenience to your Lordships will be kept to the minimum.
May I also inform the House that at about 3.30 p.m. my noble friend Lord Champion will be making a Statement on the visit of Mr. Kosygin to this country.
THE MARQUESS OF ABERDEEN AND TEMAIRMy Lords, is it known at about what time the procession will be passing the Palace of Westminster?
§ LORD SHEPHERDMy Lords, as I have just said, Her Majesty will be meeting the President at the Tate Gallery at 2.45 p.m. It is not for me to state the duration of that meeting, but I would imagine that the procession would return at about 3.30 p.m.