§ 3.27 p.m.
§ The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Jay of Paddington)My Lords, perhaps the House will allow me to rise briefly to welcome the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, to his new position as Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition. I am sure that I offer him this welcome on behalf of the whole House.
As Leader of the House, I am looking forward to working with the noble Lord. Since I became Leader a short time ago we have had extremely personal relations—
§ Baroness Jay of PaddingtonMy Lords, I am sorry I allowed that to slip out. The noble Lord and I have 602 had very good personal relations across the House on a number of professional and business matters and I am sure that they will continue. I also take this opportunity to welcome the noble Lord, Lord Henley, to his new position as the Opposition Chief Whip. I know that the Government Chief Whip will be looking forward to working with him. I am sorry to see that the noble Lord, Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish, is not in his place, but I am sure that we shall all benefit from his forensic and political skills in his new role as Deputy Leader of the Opposition.
On this side of the House, we have tried to keep up with the changes and movement which have taken place on the Opposition Front Bench in the past few hours, but among those resignations which I understand have occurred is that of the Deputy Leader, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Fraser of Carmyllie. We were sorry to hear that. Again, I had good personal contact with him both inside and outside the House, and we wish the noble and learned Lord well.
We were all saddened by the circumstances in which these changes occurred and I should like to pay a warm tribute to the noble Viscount, Lord Cranborne.
§ Baroness Jay of PaddingtonMy Lords, I was genuinely deeply saddened by the noble Viscount's resignation yesterday. In my position as a relatively new Leader of your Lordships' House, he was always extraordinarily kind and helpful to me and offered me valuable advice. Your Lordships will not be surprised to hear that I was brought up to believe, and indeed learnt in my professional life, that one can often disagree fairly firmly with other people about matters of policy and so forth and yet retain cordial and friendly relationships with them. For my part, I have to say that that was my experience of my dealings and my professional conversations with the noble Viscount. I am very sorry that those will no longer take place in the way that they did.
No one in your Lordships' House can underestimate or undervalue the role that the noble Viscount played both as Leader of the House and, subsequently, as Leader of the Opposition, especially in understanding and preserving the very important role that he understood this House to have within the constitution. It is important to recognise that his authority and the arguments that he put forward on a number of occasions in that context have been very powerful. Personally, I expect that we shall see those continued from his other position now on the Back Benches. I am sure that we shall value the noble Viscount's authoritative contributions to those discussions which we shall have on matters affecting your Lordships' House, as well as on other issues.
Although I was aware that the noble Viscount would not be in his place this afternoon, I did not want this occasion to pass without, in a sense, being able to convey my personal thanks for the role that he played in my understanding of the role of Leader of your Lordships' 603 House and, indeed, for the understanding that I think he brought to all our discussions about the constitutional importance and the political role of this House.
§ 3.30 p.m.
§ Lord Rodgers of Quarry BankMy Lords, perhaps I may associate those of us on these Benches with all the sentiments expressed by the noble Baroness the Leader of the House in her elegant remarks. I should like to refer only—and I hope that this will not be misunderstood—to the noble Viscount, Lord Cranborne. Whether he is a loss to his party is a matter for it to decide. However, all of us who have had experience of him in this House believe that he will be a loss to your Lordships' House in the role that he performed both as Leader of the House and thereafter in accomplishing the very difficult transition from government to opposition after 18 years. He managed that with very considerable skill and I do not believe that that should be forgotten by all those who were the beneficiaries of it.
Perhaps I may add the following without perhaps introducing any further note into our remarks. When the Labour Party was in opposition, I understand that it elected its leader in this House. Indeed, I and my predecessors were elected by my colleagues here. If the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, wants to remove the possibility of sacking, I recommend that, while he retains the confidence of his own troops, he should get elected by them very quickly.
§ Lord WeatherillMy Lords, from the Cross-Benches perhaps I may reinforce the tributes that have been paid today to the noble Viscount, Lord Cranborne. In all our dealings with him, we have always found him to be wholly reliable, honourable and indeed very courteous. In particular, I wish to pay a special tribute to him for his assistance in facilitating the agreement with the Government which resulted in the announcement made yesterday by my noble friends Lord Carnarvon, Lord Marsh and myself about the interim arrangements for your Lordships' House between the government Bill for reform of this House and the second stage. Without the noble Viscount's wise guidance and advice and indeed his negotiating skills, I have to say that that agreement would not have been possible. We look forward to having the same good relations with the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, as we had with his predecessor.
§ The Lord Bishop of LincolnMy Lords, from the Bishops' Benches perhaps I may add our own appreciation of the work of the noble Viscount, Lord Cranborne. A bishop of Lincoln knows quite a bit about local difficulties.
§ The Lord Bishop of LincolnI hope, my Lords, that that makes him more sensitive to the difficulties of the Opposition. However, we thank the noble Viscount for his courtesy and kindness to us. Those of us who flit in and 604 out of the House, rather more perhaps than Members on other Benches, do appreciate the kindness and courtesy which all Leaders and Officers of the House show to us. We assure the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, of our concern and our prayers for him. We wish him well in the onerous task that he faces.
§ Lord StrathclydeMy Lords, perhaps I may thank the noble Baroness the Leader of the House for her very kind and generous words of welcome which were given in her customarily charming way. I have to say that "customary charm" has become a little hit of a Sicilian cliché. but I very much adhere to the sentiments behind it. I shall have to think of a new way of describing my warm relationship with the noble Baroness, other than simply referring to "personal relations".
On behalf of my noble friend the Chief Whip and the new Deputy Leader of the Opposition, my noble friend Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish, perhaps I may thank the noble Baroness for her expressions of good will. Since the noble Baroness became Leader of the House, the House of Lords has rarely been off the front pages of newspapers. However, I know that that has not always been her fault.
I do not wish to do this on behalf of my noble friend Lord Cranborne, but, if he were present, I know that he would thank the noble Baroness very much for what she said and indeed that he would thank other noble Lords for what they have said about his role in this House both as Leader of the House when we were in government and through the transitional phase when we became the Opposition. As his Chief Whip during that period, I learnt a great deal, not just about the management of this House but also about various political skills. I hope that I shall be able to put those skills to some use in the months ahead. It is a source of very great personal regret to me that my noble friend has left the Opposition Front Bench, but I wholly understand the reasons why this has happened.
I know that this House can only manage its business with the co-operation and agreement of all sides of the House. As Leader of the Opposition, I wish to follow the very clear example that has been set not just by my predecessor but also by the noble Baroness's predecessors when the Labour Party was in opposition to try to effect the very best management of business in this House. However, I can assure the noble Baroness that I shall not be a soft touch. We have taken some hard blows over the course of the past 24 hours. But, after we have retired briefly to lick our wounds, we shall return Hydra-like to be as effective and thorough in opposition as we always have been.