§ 2.50 p.m.
§ THE LORD CHANCELLOR (VISCOUNT JOWITT)My Lords, may I just say a word by way of personal explanation and apology? I have recently been having some minor trouble with one of my eyes which I am told is due to some species of overstrain. I am advised that if I go away for a month I shall be able completely to get rid of this trouble. His Majesty has most graciously given me leave of absence. I would like to express my extreme regret to your Lordships' House for any inconvenience that may be caused, and to explain that I leave this post only under advice which I cannot disregard, and with an extreme sense of reluctance.
§ VISCOUNT SWINTONMy Lords, I am sure that every member of your Lordships' House has heard the Lord Chancellor's words with great sympathy and very sincere regret. Of course he is right to go. Even the most willing horse must not be worked too hard, and the noble and learned Viscount has certainly borne 1076 more than his fair share of work in this House. I hope he will not come back until he is completely restored to health, and that that restoration will come as soon as possible. I hope, too, that he will not worry while he is away. I can assure him that, within the non-existent Rules of Order which govern us in this House, we will try to behave as well as we can in his absence.
§ VISCOUNT SAMUELMy Lords, noble Lords in all quarters of the House feel most sympathetic with the Lord Chancellor on this occasion—sympathetic but perhaps not surprised, considering the burden of work which he has so ungrudgingly borne during the last three years. Parliament has had before it a spate of legislation, and in this House it has fallen to the Lord Chancellor to take charge of a succession of massive Bills, long, complicated and technical. He is the only Government Law Officer in your Lordships' House, and the burden which has fallen upon him has been very heavy. In addition, there is his work as a member of the Cabinet and on many of its Committees. He has had duties to perform on ceremonial occasions and has undertaken good will missions to several countries in different parts of the world. It is therefore not surprising that bodily endurance should have its limit, and that he should be medically ordered to take a rest. The House will miss him, his great powers of exposition and his unfailing good humour, and we hope that he will return before long in the best of health.
§ THE LORD PRIVY SEAL (VISCOUNT ADDISON)My Lords, I am sure that all noble Lords on this side of the House, as elsewhere, share in the regret so admirably expressed by the noble Viscounts opposite. I do not think I can add to what has been said by the very experienced Parliamentarians who have just spoken. It is fair to say that during the last three years the Lord Chancellor has had an altogether exceptional burden to bear. For that fact I myself share a responsibility of no light kind, because on many occasions when Bills and questions have come up which have presented peculiar difficulties, I have said at once: "Well, this is a job for the Lord Chancellor." I fully admit that on more than one occasion I have passed on to the Lord Chancellor responsibilities which 1077 perhaps ought to have been discharged by the Leader of the House.
No Leader at any time could have had a more unselfish and willing comrade, and I know that the whole House is fully conscious of it. We shall look forward—I am glad to say with confidence—to the Lord Chancellor's benefiting from the rest he so sorely needs, and I am sure that when he comes back we shall all be delighted to see him. I would add that, as a result of conferences with Lord Swinton and Lord Samuel, I can convey to the noble and learned Viscount the assurance that, within the limits of their proper responsibilities, they are gladly willing to co-operate in making the burden upon the rest of us as light as possible in the circumstances.