New Clause

Part of Orders of the Day — House of Lords Bill – in the House of Commons at 4:15 pm on 10 November 1999.

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Photo of John Bercow John Bercow Shadow Minister (Education) 4:15, 10 November 1999

It seems as if the hon. Member for Thurrock (Mr. Mackinlay) misrepresents the thinking of Conservative Members of Parliament. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the most distinguished Conservative philosopher of all time, Edmund Burke, was right to say that the state which lacks the means of change lacks the means of its conservation, but that the criterion according to which we should judge the desirability of change is whether it is practically effective, and not on the basis of some abstract theory?