Adjournment (Hansard, 26 July 1994)

§ Lord Strathclyde
My Lords, I beg to move that the House do now adjourn.
In moving the adjournment of the House, it is my first, and certainly far from unpleasant duty, to offer my thanks on behalf of all your Lordships to those whose efforts in all quarters of the House and behind the scenes have contributed to ensuring the smooth passage of business in your Lordships' House.
The list of those on whom we rely is rich and varied—from the Parliament Office to the Doorkeepers, the attendants and cleaning staff, to the Refreshment Department, whose staff we call on so heavily during the summer months, and especially to those in the Bishops' Bar who work tirelessly to keep noble Lords in a happy mood, to the police and to those who record our proceedings so efficiently. To all those and to all those others who work in this place with invariable courtesy and efficiency, we offer our thanks and best wishes for the holiday period.
In making my debut in my new capacity, I should like to echo the remarks that were made earlier by my noble friend the Leader of the House in tribute to my noble friend Lord Wakeham. He brought rare distinction to carrying out his role as Leader of your Lordships' House, and I know that he carries your Lordships' thanks and gratitude with him.
I should like also to pay tribute to my noble friend Lord Ullswater as my predecessor as Government Chief Whip. I am delighted that he will continue to serve the Government Front Bench as Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and that it may come as some relief to your Lordships that my own voice will not be heard with such regularity as it has been heard this Season in the Chamber. I know that there is an added bonus to your Lordships and that the House will henceforth once again hear more from my noble friend in his new position.
It is also traditional at this stage for me to thank the noble Lords, Lord Graham of Edmonton and Lord Tordoff, and the noble Baroness the Convenor of the Cross Benches for their assistance and support in helping to reflect the wishes of the House in the organisation of your Lordships' business. On this occasion my thanks to the noble Lords and the noble Baroness may be thought to be a little presumptuous, but I know, both from my noble friend Lord Ullswater and from my own experience this Session, how much the smooth running of the House depends upon the co-operation and collaboration of all sides of the House and, in particular, among the respective Chief Whips. On behalf of the whole House I therefore wish the noble Lords and the noble Baroness, as well as the rest of your 697 Lordships, a restful and enjoyable Recess. I hope that when we return in October we shall be reinvigorated and refreshed from the holiday.

§ Lord Graham of Edmonton
My Lords, I wish that I could borrow the noble Lord's speech, which was so excellent and comprehensive. A great deal of thought had gone into it. The custom and practice, now and at Christmas, is that we say thank you. So there is at least one other speech to come. From these Benches we would like to echo what the noble Lord said with such feeling and sincerity. This is outside the cut and thrust of party politics. We on this side look back on the Session as being moderately successful. We also recognise that our welfare and peace of mind are served in so many ways by those referred to by the noble Lord. On behalf of my noble friends, I thank the noble Lord the Government Chief Whip for so ably saying what he has said. He has also provided us on these Benches with an opportunity to make a declaration, as I did earlier in relation to the two Ministers who have just spoken. First, I should like to welcome the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, to what is undoubtedly an onerous but honourable position. What he said on behalf of himself and his colleagues to the noble Viscount, Lord Ullswater, finds an echo on these Benches. He has been an honourable man. He has performed his duties not just to the best of his ability—that is not patronising—but with good humour and style. We were sorry to see him moved but delighted that we shall continue to enjoy his comradeship and all the other qualities that he has shown. We on these Benches will go off on our holidays determined to come back and make a genuine attempt to carry on where we left off.

§ Lord Tordoff
My Lords, from these Benches, with the packed hordes behind me, I join in thanking the noble Lord the Government Chief Whip for what he said and for covering the whole field so well. When I saw the list of speakers today I thought perhaps it might be necessary to wish your Lordships a happy Christmas. However, the speeches were contained in reasonable order in what has obviously been an interesting and important debate. It is therefore my pleasant task to join in wishing everyone a happy holiday.
What one can say about this year is that we did not have a Maastricht debate. This time last year we almost thought that the end of the world had come because we had been through Maastricht backwards, sideways, left, right and centre. This year has been an equally busy one, but rather different and, I hope, rather more productive. As the noble Lord, Lord Graham, said, we on the Opposition Benches feel that we have assisted the Government in producing legislation which is rather better than when it started out. Long may that continue.
698 The noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, has enumerated everyone to whom our thanks should be given. However, perhaps I may make two short points. He will remember as one of the highlights of this year the return of Black Rod to his duties. We wish to see him continuing the progress that he has undoubtedly made to a point where he is fully fit. We should also pay tribute to the Yeoman Usher, to other members of Black Rod's Department and to the Chairman of Committees for the way in which they responded to the difficulties that were faced as the result of Black Rod's incapacity.
I know that the Yeoman Usher has taken some trouble to look at the air-conditioning in your Lordships' Chamber. My noble friend Lady Seear, who is unable to be present today, asked me to make a particular point of thanking the Yeoman Usher for making the air breathable in your Lordships' Chamber. During the past fortnight it has been the coolest place in London, which might be why our debates have been better attended than they might otherwise have been. We thank him for that.
I too thank the noble Viscount, Lord Ullswater, for his help and co-operation throughout the year. We are genuinely sorry to see him go, and I say that with no disrespect to his successor. The noble Viscount was in office for a relatively short time as compared with some of his predecessors, in particular the noble Lord, Lord Denham. The three Chief Whips, who I suppose constitute most of the usual channels, struck up a most happy relationship from the start. We are genuinely sorry to see him go, although we are happy that he is returning to do a job in your Lordships' House.
I welcome the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, to his new task. The noble Lord, Lord Graham, and I will do our best to assist him but to frustrate him at the same time. I wish everyone in your Lordships's House—the staff and everyone at this end of the building—a happy holiday and the opportunity to be refreshed and to come back on 10th October.

§ Baroness Hylton-Foster
My Lords, the Cross-Bench Peers wish to endorse all the thanks that have been made and to say thank you for the unexpected ones pointed in this direction. We wish to say special thanks to all those sufferers of asthma and related allergies who manfully continued to work here despite the hot weather. We also thank all those who had to work into the small hours during the late-night sittings and then return a few hours later the same day. They did so despite the weather and the train strikes, and always with the same kindness and courtesy.
Once again, we must thank the Doorkeepers for being so kind and helpful to all the new Cross-Bench Peers and their families. It is appreciated so very much. We thank too those in the Refreshment Department who look after us all so splendidly. To all Peers and to everyone who works in this House, we wish a splendid and happy holiday with family and friends.
House adjourned for the Summer Recess at nineteen minutes past six o'clock, until Monday 10th October next.