HL Deb 19 December 1957 vol 206 cc1319-23

3.18 p.m.

THE EARL OF HOME rose to move to resolve, That the Lord Merthyr be appointed Chairman of Committees of this House for the remainder of this Session; That the Lord Merthyr do take the Chair in all Committees of the Whole House, unless where it shall have been otherwise directed by the House; That the Lord Merthyr do also take the Chair in all Committees upon Private Bills and other matters, unless where it shall have been otherwise directed by the House. The noble Earl said: My Lords, I have a duty to-day in the House which is both sad and pleasant—sad because it means turning the final page of a story of a much-loved and much-respected Chairman of Committees. Not long ago, we paid our tributes to the late Lord Drogheda, but our work moves on and we must face the future. It falls to me as Leader of the House to propose one of your Lordships to fill the vacant office of Chairman of Committees. Here, the task is pleasant because I can put before your Lordships the name of the noble Lord, Lord Merthyr, who I believe your Lordships will feel has all the qualities to enable him to fill this post with distinction; and inquiries have shown that his name would be received with general acceptance and confidence.

My Lords, I could have put to your Lordships another name, with equal confidence, on all grounds except that of years. Lord Terrington, with his characteristic generosity, was willing to put his services at the disposal of the Leader of the House and of your Lordships' House; but he would prefer, and understood my preference for, a younger man in the post of Lord Chairman of Committees. Lord Merthyr's comparative youth gives him the prospect of a long tenure of office, which is an advantage in the office of Lord Chairman in establishing his own method of working and conduct of business—in particular that part of the work which relates to Private and local Bills where he comes in close contact with the Parliamentary Bar.

I know that Lord Merthyr would be willing to put himself at the disposal of the House, either in his capacity as deputy to another or as Lord Chairman of Committees, if he should so be chosen: and if the latter, then he would be willing to surrender as many of his many outside duties as may be necessary to enable him to give full satisfaction to your Lordships in the office of Lord Chairman. At present, Lord Merthyr is in Nigeria on a Government mission, but he will be back in the New Year and able to serve your Lordships then. So I confidently commend Lord Merthyr to your Lordships as Chairman of Committees, and beg to move the Resolution which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

Moved to resolve, That the Lord Merthyr be appointed Chairman of Committees of this House for the remainder of this Session; That the Lord Merthyr do take the Chair in all Committees of the Whole House, unless where it shall have been otherwise directed by the House; That the Lord Merthyr do also take the Chair in all Committees upon Private Bills and other matters, unless where it shall have been otherwise directed by the House.—(The Earl of Home.)

3.20 p.m.

VISCOUNT ALEXANDER OF HILLSBOROUGH

My Lords, my conversations on this side of the House enable me to say that we are all very strongly in favour of the recommendation which the noble Leader has put before us today. We regret very much, as he does, the sad reason for its being necessary; but we have already paid our sincere tribute to the late Chairman of Committees. From the point of view of the possibility of continuity and added experience of the changing work of the House, the selection of the noble Lord is a very great thing. We have each individually learned to respect his integrity and sincerity, as well as his legal and Parliamentary qualifications; and in view of the manner in which he has indicated to the noble Earl the Leader of the House the sacrifices that he is prepared to make in regard to his other appointments I believe that the House would do well to appoint him.

At the same time, I should like most heartily to join in the tribute which the noble Earl the Leader of the House has paid to our noble friend Lord Terrington. He is a man known to us all for his general capacity, not only in this House but in other fields, especially in the field of reconciliation; and the part of his work which will live long after him (and speak from my own knowledge) is some of his industrial decisions. I am glad to know that he feels able to put himself at the disposal of the House, as he has indicated to the noble Earl the Leader of the House. That is typical of h s general services to your Lordships in the past. I hope that the return of the noble Lord, Lord Merthyr, to us will not be too long delayed, so that we may have the benefit of the commencement of his term of service.

3.23 p.m.

LORD REA

My Lords, I should like to support the noble Viscount who has just spoken in expressing approval of the choice made by the noble Earl the Leader of the House in selecting the noble Lord, Lord Merthyr, for this position. The choice must in one sense have been an easy one, for his impartiality, ability and clarity are quite outstanding; and, if I may speak for those on this side of the House, the fact that he sat on the Conservative Benches gave no indication of any political bias in his mind which could in any way be regrettable In fact, we noted that normally he sat as far as possible from the Conservative Front Bench.

In another sense the choice must have been difficult, because your Lordships' House is in the fortunate position of having Deputy Chairmen of great ability, from whom more than one might have been chosen with equal pleasure to us. I believe we shall all agree that the tribute kindly paid by the noble Earl the Leader of the House and the noble Viscount, Lord Alexander of Hillsborough, to my noble friend on these Benches is well deserved. We all welcome the appointment of the noble Lord, Lord Merthyr, and I am sure that my noble friend Lord Terrington will join me in supporting him from these Benches in every way we possibly can.

LORD TERRINGTON

My Lords, the noble Earl the Leader of the House informed me that he was going to mention "another Peer," but I understood that the mention was to be anonymous, and if he had not mentioned my name my natural modesty would, as usual, have kept me silent on these Benches. As it is, may I be allowed to say how much I welcome the Motion moved by the noble Earl? Some of your Lordships may have noticed that in recent times, whenever the House was in session on Wednesday afternoon, a small gathering of Peers took place in the Prince's Chamber at 4.30. If any noble Lord had had the curiosity to come and see what was going on, he would have found the noble Lord, Lord Merthyr, endeavouring to organise some discipline among a rather unruly squad of Deputy Chairmen. If the same noble Lord had had the further curiosity to look over the shoulder of the noble Lord, Lord Merthyr, he would have seen what looked like a black book, in which the noble Lord kept his engagements, and might well have thought that the object of the exercise was for the noble Lord, Lord Merthyr, to push his work on to other shoulders. In fact he was always ready to take over all the chores that fall to Deputy Chairmen—not only his own but those of others also. My only feeling of uneasiness is that with a Lord Chairman of Committees who is so energetic and ubiquitous as Lord Merthyr, it might be found that the appointment of further Deputy Chairmen would be a work of supererogation, and I should regret that very much.

It is only a few days since we heard moving tributes paid to the late Lord Drogheda. As the noble Earl the Leader of the House has so rightly said, he was a friend of all of us. It would perhaps be an impertinence for any individual to claim a special relationship with him, but it was inevitable that those of us who were his deputies came into close contact with him and had the privilege of his confidence. I can say with complete confidence that I know the late Lord Drogheda would enthusiastically welcome the appointment of the noble Lord, Lord Merthyr, as his successor—and I do not think that I can pay any more sincere or higher compliment to the noble Lord.

On Question, Motion agreed to, nemine dissentiente, and ordered accordingly.