2.47 p.m.
Mrs. Margaret Thatcher (Finchley)
I rise, Selwyn LloydMr. Speaker, wholeheartedly to support the Prime Minister in the motion that he has moved. [column 1144]
As the curtain comes down on this most distinguished period of your long and eventful career, I should like to extend to you the affection, gratitude and good wishes of my right hon. and hon. Friends and myself and to say how moving it was to hear you read the Prayers yourself at the beginning of our proceedings today.
In the Shakespearean phrase, you have played many parts. In any one of those parts, most people would have been glad to reach the height which you have attained in all of them. You have been a successful lawyer, a distinguished wartime soldier, a prominent politician, holding some of the highest offices of State, and, most recently, Mr. Speaker of the Mother of Parliaments—a position which, for two centuries of our history, ranked as First Commoner in the land. In case the Shakesperean allusion suggests otherwise, however, let me say that I believe you achieved eminence in each of your parts by dint of dedication and professional competence.
You served the House of Commons in many ways before becoming Speaker—as Leader of the House, and as Chairman of the Committee of Privileges and of the Services Committee.
You have served your country in time of war, to ensure that the Parliament of a free people may continue to meet in free debate. You have served it in peace time, particularly through voluntary work.
Just as the historian has trouble in keeping pace with your career, so have many of your colleagues—some younger than you—had difficulty in keeping up with you in the long-distance walks that you have undertaken on behalf of charity.
You have served your Church, in the tradition of your family. Indeed, Mr. Speaker, it would seem that Methodism bestows certain qualities on a man to make him most fit for Speaker. We must avoid this becoming a necessary qualification.
But it is of your Speakership that we specifically think today. You have presided over three Parliaments, two of which have involved small Government majorities, and you have had to use your casting vote. You have witnessed the passage of hard-fought legislation, with the heightening of tension—and temperature—that this produces, but, as evidence of [column 1145]your patient control over our proceedings and our emotions, you have never resorted to the ultimate weapon of suspending an individual Member—a record to which you have referred and of which we know you must be justifiably proud.
You have, instead, exercised that very necessary quality of humour to break the tension—a humour that was always backed by sound judgment and swift decision. One of your most important weapons has been your pencil, tapping away in criticism of the “selfishness of the long-winded” , indicating that time was passing and that many more right hon. and hon. Members had indicated their wish to speak.
You once remarked that the Chair had a memory—a warning which, if newspapers are correct, is backed up by a red ledger—your special little “Red Book” recording not the sayings of Members but the length of time that they took to say them.
While we honour you today as our Speaker, may I and my right hon. and hon. Friends on the Opposition side of the House thank you, as one of our Members, for your years of friendship, encouragement and guidance?
The office of Speaker commands our loyalty and support. Only the holder of this office can gain what you will take away with you today—our love and admiration. We shall miss you, our most devoted and faithful servant.