Address in Reply to Her Majesty's Most Gracious Speech

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 4:49 pm on 29 November 2004.

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Photo of Lord Newton of Braintree Lord Newton of Braintree Conservative 4:49, 29 November 2004

My Lords, I count it a singular pleasure to be the one who follows that maiden speech from the noble Lord, Lord Gould of Brookwood, which I found in equal measure to be both engaging and impressive as a declaration of his personal views.

I do not think that our paths have crossed physically very much in the past, but of course there is no one in British politics whose path has not crossed with that of the noble Lord, Lord Gould, in one way or another. His is a name to conjure with as a political guru. He has had a significant influence on the development of the British political scene as it now is; and, indeed, on a personal level I suppose that I could hand him some of the credit for seven years ago bringing about my translation from the other end of the building to this one; a move for which—dare I say?—I find myself increasingly grateful.

The noble Lord's arrival here under his new name undoubtedly—on the basis of the speech we have heard this afternoon—presages many more contributions of a depth and quality that we shall all listen to with great respect and, indeed, look forward to hearing in due course.