SITTINGS OF THE HOUSE (Hansard, 17 June 1965)

§ Mr. John Rankin (Glasgow, Govan)
I oppose the Motion for reasons which I regard as valid. First, owing to the late sitting of the House not all our Parliamentary papers have reached us. As a result I was debarred from drawing attention to the fact that last night I submitted a notice of Motion dealing with this matter, which has been supported by Members of all parties represented in the House. During the course of our inquiries and questions on the matter of the proposed sittings of the House there have been different descriptions of what our purpose is. Upstairs in the Committee corridor, some weeks ago, there was a pictorial representation purporting to illustrate the 700 years covering the development of Parliament. It was described as "700 years of Great Britain's Parliament".
We are all aware that there is another commemoration to which we have been invited, where we are asked to celebrate 700 years of Parliament. There is no indication as to which Parliament we shall be paying tribute. Next, my right hon. Friend yesterday drew attention to the fact that one purpose of these celebrations was to record the first English Parliament, summoned by Henry III. This shows that the designation of this occasion is at least somewhat fluid. I feel it necessary to suggest to my right hon. Friend, therefore, that it would be appropriate for him to consider doing what is suggested in the Notice of Motion, which should have been in our Parliamentary papers—that if we can pay tribute to Simon de Montfort's English Parliament then we ought also to be able to pay tribute to 600 years of Scotland's Parliamentary traditions. That is the purpose of our notice of Motion, which is not available to hon. and right hon. Gentlemen.
I hope that my right hon. Friend the Lord President will take note of the fact 905 that what I am saying is supported on the benches opposite by Liberal and Conservative Members and also on these benches, by my Labour colleagues. If my right hon. Friend will accept this suggestion, then all of us together next week will have the privilege and honour of paying our tribute to what has been done in Parliamentary development not only in England, but also in Scotland and of wishing the Parliamentary tradition continued success in the years which lie ahead.

§ The Lord President of the Council (Mr. Herbert Bowden)
Perhaps I can help the House by making it absolutely clear that the celebration on Tuesday of next week is the 700th anniversary of the occasion on 20th January, 1265, of Simon de Montfort's Parliament, when, for the first time, representatives of the communities attended the Parliament here—that is, the burgesses from the boroughs and the knights from the shires. The occasion when the Scots first came here as Members of Parliament—although they had attended earlier Parliaments as representatives—was the year after the Act of Union in 1707.
This has been made absolutely clear in these celebrations. I ask my hon. Friend to realise that on this occasion this is not only an English celebration. This is a celebration of Parliamentary democracy, which is being joined by Commonwealth Parliaments, because it is the basis of their own democracy and their own form of Parliament. This was the occasion on which, for the first time, representatives of the boroughs and knights from the shires came together in Parliament. That is what we are celebrating, and not the occasion on which the Scots, or the Welsh, first joined us.

§ Mr. George Y. Mackie (Caithness and Sutherland)
Is the Leader of the House aware that for a celebration to be successful—and this is why we have criticised the wording—it needs to take into account the pride and susceptibilities of the whole of the people of the countries of Great Britain? Is he aware that in Scotland there has been a great deal of resentment aroused by the bland assumption in some of the language used that this 906 was the 700th anniversary of this Parliament, whereas, in fact, it is a legal decision that the Parliaments of England and Scotland were terminated in 1707 and thereafter fused into the Parliament of Great Britain.
Would he, in future, take note of this undoubted fact, and then he will enable the whole of us in the House to join in celebrating what is undoubtedly a great occasion in the history of Parliamentary government?

§ Mr. Edward M. Taylor (Glasgow, Cathcart)
I appreciated every word that the Leader of the House said. We accept that Simon de Montfort's Parliament has made an historic mark in the whole history of democracy in the world, but I feel that what has concerned hon. Members on both sides of the House—not just this once—is what appears to be the complete disregard by the Government of the true feelings and true interests of Scotland. It is about time that some mention was made of this.
In explanation, I would make one small point. We saw an obvious example of this when, recently, a recommendation was made by one of the right hon. Gentleman's right hon. Friends that schoolchildren in Scotland should be given a day's holiday to mark the anniversary of Magna Charta. In response, we have had the most amazing snub that I have ever known given to the Secretary of State for Scotland, because most of the authorities, dealing with a large number of school children and including the major city, Glasgow, have decided not to have this holiday.
When things reach this stage it is becoming quite clear that the Government are getting out of touch with Scottish feeling and Scottish interests. This was a situation to which we were not accustomed under the previous Administration. In those circumstances, I hope that the right hon. Gentleman will give careful consideration to the Motion of the hon. Member for Glasgow, Govan (Mr. Rankin) which I have been proud to sign.

§ Mr. J. Grimond (Orkney and Shetland)
I have great sympathy with what has been said on behalf of Scotland and I do not wish to derogate from it in any 907 way, but, as we are having this short discussion, may I put it on record that the oldest Parliament in Great Britain is the Shetlandic Ting. If this is to be a general celebration of Parliament, then Shetland is the father or mother of Parliament in this country and she and her long Nordic tradition, with which I couple Orkney, should be associated with this celebration.
From time to time we are rather suspicious of the Scots. We hear that they are oppressed by the English, but they have done a bit of oppressing themselves in their time.

§ Sir Knox Cunningham (Antrim, South)
May I ask the Leader of the House to remember that although we have been discussing our internal matters in the British Isles, this celebration is being welcomed and supported warmly in other parts of the world, particularly in the United States, who feel that they are a part of this celebration and who are delighted to be represented. We ought to realise that they have an interest in this matter and that it is a wider interest than that of the House of Commons. I hope that the celebration will have every success.