John Bercow: ...it is forthcoming, that we should have a chance to consider all the germane issues. For example, I cannot for the life of me see any justification, in 2007, for the arcane—dare I say it, almost antediluvian—requirement that a woman who seeks an abortion should have to obtain the signatures of two doctors. That might sound like a prosaic requirement that can be easily fulfilled, but...
John Bercow: I always thought that the right hon. Gentleman was a tough cookie. May I tell him, for the avoidance of doubt, that he should not be intimidated or slowed down in any way by the reactionary, antediluvian, troglodyte forces in all parties who oppose reform, that the arguments for democracy remain strong, and that he should proceed with a Bill sooner rather later?
Murdo Fraser: ...that it is not the policy of the Scottish Conservatives to support selection. Labour's new approach, which I commend, recognises the realities of modern Scotland and stands in stark contrast to the antediluvian approach of the SNP. As a party, the SNP has set its face against specialist schools and skills academies. SNP members must recognise the realities of 21st century Scotland. As a...
Simon Hughes: ...defenders of the counties and the cities, and of local identity. The only thing that the right hon. Lady has not yet conceded is that, under the system that she continues to advocate—the most antediluvian of voting systems: the first-past-the-post system—we would get the least representative outcome, in a much bigger area. We will have to discuss that. We may not get a perfect...
David Heath: ...them from voting for the good, thus avoiding the train wreck that he memorably described last time. Lastly, is it not increasingly apparent that what needs reform is not only the House of Lords but antediluvian processes and attitudes in the Commons, too?
David Taylor: ...bunker of that bygone era, in that they discriminate on the ground of sex so far as playing and voting rights and access to facilities are concerned. Will the Minister be up for the tussle with the antediluvian tendency in this sport when she drafts the regulations necessary to eradicate discrimination on the greens and in the clubhouse, so that, at last, women and men can be on a par?
Paul Truswell: .... A rail passenger partnership grant has allowed most of the rolling stock on the Airedale and Wharfedale line to be replaced with brand new, air conditioned, class 333 trains. They replaced the antediluvian, 40-year-old, slam-door cast-offs from the south-east commuter belt that we inherited under the previous Government. We cannot take lessons from the Conservative party about investment...
Rob Marris: ...about the end of 20th century with this stuff and welcome the fact that several Conservative Members have struggled into the 21st century, but some Conservative Back Benchers really have a pretty antediluvian approach to the matter. We should not have to go through such arguments again and again in the Chamber and elsewhere and it is sad that we must do so. From my hon. Friend the Minister...
Angela Eagle: ...had thought that progress had been made when we last debated the Second Reading of this very Bill in the dying days of the previous Parliament. On that occasion, the chorus of, how shall I call it, antediluvian chuntering and reactionary chatter on the Conservative Back Benches was absent, and it is a great pity that that element has turned up today. Conservative Front Benchers should be...
Lord Hooson: My Lords, I have long thought that there was an overdue case in this country for setting up a broad-based royal commission to look at the whole question of our antediluvian penal system, which is in many respects a blot on the record of a civilised country. I hope that this debate, initiated by my noble friend Lord Dholakia, will encourage the Government to do so, through the medium of the...
Lord Phillips of Sudbury: ...and medical staff in the general hospital; that is, it took the pressure off. Secondly, he said that the interchange of staff was of benefit to both." Again, if one takes the case of an extremely antediluvian public school—one which has no interest in public benefit as we conceive it; no interest in extending its facilities to the state school system; no interest in sharing teachers, or...
David Heath: ...forces have gone a long way from where they were a few years ago in dealing with complaints of domestic violence and in investigating allegations of rape. Others, unfortunately, are still fairly antediluvian in their attitudes and seem not to have the mechanisms to provide for a successful intervention. We should recognise that the police service is still seen as a masculine domain. Going...
Lord Desai: ...House of Commons. I remembered 1968 and student sit-ins, and so on. I know that I could penetrate the House of Commons with no problem. It is an archaic building which no one can guard. The sheer antediluvian arrangements of Parliament were exposed for everyone to see, with elderly men, encumbered by swords and unsuitable dress, trying to chase flexible, agile and athletic young people....
Edward Garnier: ...very good reasons—because he would have realised from the outset that he did not need to speak the first sentence of his speech, given that the Opposition Members who have spoken do not take the antediluvian attitude that he ascribes to us. Many Opposition Members have spoken not in support of the Bill, but in support of some of its aspects, particularly in relation to the judicial...
Austin Mitchell: ...2014, and were a condition of getting the contracts, should just be written off, with the consequent effect on the companies and their staff. The cuts will be damaging to the companies. I am an antediluvian from the days when John Logie Baird sets were normal in the home, and I mainly appeared in black and white throughout most of my television career. In those days regional programmes...
George Howarth: ...previous general election campaign. On the Saturday evening before polling day, I unwisely agreed to go on a tour of the many social clubs in my constituency, arriving at the piano bar of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffalos club as my last port of call. I was asked by the club compere to take the stage and sing a song. Emboldened by several pints of bitter, I thought, "Why not?"...
John Bercow: ...and public. Does he not think that an eloquent and worrying illustration of that trend was expressed in the recent Populace survey published in The Times, which showed, in contrast to some of the antediluvian attitudes that still prevail in this Chamber, that 75 per cent. of respondents aged between 18 and 30 said yes, of course gay couples should have exactly the same rights as...
Evan Harris: ...care, and I know that the staff still find that to be the case. I am now bringing the argument to a higher level, to this House and the Minister. I hope that she will recognise that this is not an antediluvian opposition to all change, but a serious worry that the change is not thought out, it is not yet justified and, financially and in terms of patient care, it will make matters worse. I...
Baroness Rendell of Babergh: ..."—I quote—being removed from the necessity of being married by a Church of England clergyman, than by the prospect of weddings without the benefit of clergy. To us today, all this seems antediluvian and a cause for wonder, as the general fear of same-sex unions will seem to everyone in the future. When it becomes law, this Bill will do more for gay and lesbian people than give their...
Kenny MacAskill: ...we face being sucked into having never-ending committees to deal with matters that should be dealt with differently. I pay tribute to the committee's work, but we must think about whether using an antediluvian process that is a hangover from Victorian days—indeed, it is a hangover from Westminster—is the best way of delivering major rail infrastructure projects.