HL Deb 20 November 1997 vol 583 cc654-5

3.37 p.m.

The Lord Privy Seal (Lord Richard)

My Lords, perhaps your Lordships will allow me to refer to one matter which has been exercising me a little since yesterday; namely, Question Time. This House is very rightly jealous of the fact that it is self-regulating, and long may it continue to be so. For it to be self-regulating means that on occasion, in extremis, either the Leader of the House or, if he is not present, the Chief Whip may have to intervene. For that system to work depends on two things. The first is that the Leader of the House intervenes with reticence and only when it clearly becomes necessary that he should; the second is the acceptance by the aggrieved party who is being interrupted of the fact that it is necessary to move on.

I make no reference to what happened yesterday afternoon; I was not in the Chamber at the time. I was contemplating the virtues of cross-party co-operation with the Liberal Party in advance of the debate opened by the noble Lord, Lord Jenkins of Hillhead. However, having read Hansard it seems not inappropriate for me to mention to the House that, if our practices are to continue, they require a little acceptance on both sides. When the noble Viscount, Lord Cranborne, was Leader of the House, he did what I try to do with skill and with tact. I attempt to do the same.

Viscount Cranborne

My Lords, the noble Lord the Leader of the House has done the House a great service by his intervention this afternoon. I concur entirely with the sentiments that he has expressed, particularly his polite comments about me when I occupied his position.

To reciprocate what he said, the noble Lord—if I may say so without appearing patronising—fulfils the very criteria he enunciated. He can be assured that, just as he always gave me and indeed my noble friend Lord Strathclyde when he was in the position of the noble Lord, Lord Carter, complete support in matters of this kind, both my noble friend Lord Strathclyde and I will support him in the way he suggests.

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