§ 2.56 p.m.
EARL JELLICOEMy Lords, your Lordships will perhaps be aware that we are at the moment meeting without the 941 benefit of that rather new-fangled device, electric light. I cannot at the moment predict when electric power will be restored to the Palace of Westminster, although there are certain emergency arrangements up our sleeve. I do not think it would be right or consonant with the dignity of your Lordships' House that we should not continue our Sitting in these circumstances. We have a very important debate coming up, to be introduced by my noble friend Lord Molson.
I should perhaps add that arrangements will be made to ensure that there is an adequate amount of light at the Dispatch Boxes and at the Table, and I certainly hope that my noble friend Lord Molson, for example, who is moving to-day's Motion, will feel quite free to speak from this Front Bench if he so wishes. I should like to extend a similar invitation, vice-versa, as it were, to other noble Lords, with this proviso; namely, that of course it is the practice of your Lordships' House that we do not read our speeches, though, with the permission of the noble Lord, Lord Shinwell, we occasionally refer to notes. If any noble Lord should feel obliged to speak from the Table I hope that, perhaps apart from my noble friend, he may choose to do so from the Clerk's end of the Table, since it might prove inconvenient if there were too much passage to and fro at the Front Benches.
I must once again apologise to your Lordships' House for this serious inconvenience, but I have hesitated to recommend as a solution for our little local difficulties that we should revert to the practice, which I think was common until the middle of the century before last, of sitting at 8 or 9 o'clock in the morning. I may remind your Lordships—and I apologise for this intervention—that I think it will be for the convenience of everybody concerned if our speeches can be as loudly pronounced, as dearly pronounced and as shortly pronounced as possible.
§ LORD SHACKLETONMy Lords, I am grateful to the noble Earl, and in view of the high level of his eloquence I can only say that, on the whole, the British people do better under an emergency, even if they have created the emergency themselves. I am sure that under the inspiring leadership of the noble Leader your Lordships will rise to the occasion. 942 We should have liked to know what final development of the technological age the noble Earl has up his sleeve. I think that the arrangements which he has proposed are as satisfactory as they can be. I also think that one of the arguments against noble Lords wishing to speak with the aid of this new technological device is that it may be more difficult, if, for instance, they are on the Government side and speak from the Dispatch Box, to challenge the Government who are sitting behind them, and vice-versa. But certainly, so far as this side of the House is concerned, as with the other side, we shall be delighted to welcome any Member of your Lordships' House to the vicinity of the Front Bench.
My Lords, when I say that we shall have to play this by ear in the darkness, I mean that it may be necessary for us to review the situation later on. For instance, tomorrow, when there are Committee stages and it is more important than usual to be able to read, we shall have to think again. Presumably the same thing will apply with regard to dinner to-night, although it may well be that the normal, old-fashioned facilities will be available, and that we shall be able to carry on.
§ LORD SHINWELLMy Lords, may I ask the noble Earl this question? As nowadays more or less everybody appears to be going on strike, why should not your Lordships "down tools" on this occasion or, alternatively, ask for double time because of the inconvenience to which we are being subjected?
EARL JELLICOEMy Lords, I think that, as usual, the remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Shinwell, are pertinent; but I was suggesting that we should "go slow". I thould like to thank the noble Lord the Leader of the Opposition for his reception of my suggestions. I would entirely agree with him that to a certain degree we need to play the situation by ear, and certainly we shall review the arrangements for to-morrow and the rest of this week, and the arrangements for our refreshment this evening, as we go along.
§ LORD HANKEYMy Lords, will the Government consider getting a portable generator from the Army to light the two Houses of Parliament? It ought not to be very difficult. And would it not be 943 possible to transistorise the microphones so that they can be driven by an accumulator?
EARL JELLICOEMy Lords, I am most grateful to the noble Lord for his ingenious suggestions. One or two of them had already crossed my mind.
§ LORD SHACKLETONMy Lords, I understand that there is some emergency lighting available but that we are anxious to conserve it until darkness falls.
VISCOUNT ST. DAVIDSMy Lords, would the noble Earl the Leader of the House consider working to rule?
§ LORD LEATHERLANDMy Lords, are we not making rather heavy weather of this? Does not the noble Earl think that the speeches themselves will be illuminating?