Mr Speaker, Viscount Tonypandy.
We meet in the precincts of our great Abbey of Westminster to express our unbounded appreciation of your service as Speaker.
Perhaps some think we should have met in Parliament—close by—but then Parliament met at St Stephen's and we bow to Mr. Speaker not only because he is Mr Speaker but because he sits where once they was an altar. And at the beginning of our daily work, we start with Prayers which you have attended for so many years, and which remind us that the values we cherish can neither be given by man nor taken away by him.
In this company today I hope you can feel both the great personal affection we have for you and our gratitude for the distinction and authority you brought to the office of Mr Speaker during your seven years.
So much that we honour in our country depends on the character of our people and on its Institutions.
Our Institutions would not last if the character were to fail.
As I am sure you would say
“God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform”
and in British history he has especially moved through Methodism.
He saw that you were available to us—after 31 years of Parliamentary service just when we needed you and our Parliamentary institutions needed their authority renewed and their dignity upheld.
You ascended the Chair.
A man of high and serious purpose with a great capacity for enjoyment and fun.
You had a cause to work for—a job to be done.
You said a joyous yes to life its duties, its spirit, its humour, its friends. You have given always more generously than you received.
Throughout many difficult days you remained an optimist—an optimism sustained by beliefs learned from your mother who was never far from your thoughts. For we love most those who are nearest to us.
It was an optimism which sprang from a faith that if the times were out of joint, the purpose, courage and strength of men of goodwill could and would serve to put them right.
And so on behalf of present and absent friends it is my pride to present to you the Greatest Book of All, in its most wonderful literary form—the authorised version.
It comes with our love, our praise and thanksgiving for our Great Speaker—George Thomas from Tonypandy.