§ Mr. SpeakerAs the Leader of the House has reported, the Address celebrating the tercentenary of the revolutions of 1688–89 and the Bill of Rights and the Claim of Right will be presented to Her Majesty in Westminster Hall on Wednesday 20 July. That ceremony will also be attended by the Speakers and Presiding Officers of 35 Commonwealth Parliaments. They will be in London at the invitation of the Lord Chancellor and myself to take 538 part in the ninth conference of Commonwealth Speakers and Presiding Officers, which will be held in the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre during the remainder of that week.
As Speaker of the host country it falls to me to preside over the conference. My duties at the conference and towards our Commonwealth visitors will to some extent restrict my appearances in the Chair during the period 20–22 July, and I hope that I may have the understanding of the House that this will be so.