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"My Lords and Members of the House of Commons,

"I pray that the blessing of Almighty God may rest upon your counsels".

House adjourned during pleasure.
 
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House resumed at half-past three of the clock: The LORD CHANCELLOR on the Woolsack.

Prayers—read by the Lord Bishop of Oxford.

Members of the House

It was ordered that a list of Members of the House, prepared by the Clerk of the Parliaments, be printed.

Select Vestries Bill

Read a first time pro forma.

Address in Reply to Her Majesty's Most Gracious Speech

The Lord Chancellor (Lord Falconer of Thoroton): My Lords, I have to acquaint the House that Her Majesty was pleased this morning to make a most gracious Speech from the Throne to both Houses of Parliament assembled in the House of Lords. Copies of the gracious Speech are available in the Printed Paper Office.

I have, for the convenience of the House, directed that the terms of the gracious Speech be published in the Official Report.

Baroness Lockwood: My Lords, I beg to move that an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty as follows:

It is a great honour to move this Motion, just as it has been an honour and a privilege to sit in your Lordships' House for the past 26 years and to have seen the House welcoming a continual influx of talented new Members nervous about their maiden speeches. Today I have perhaps more than my usual sympathy for them as I deliver this humble Address.

I must thank my noble friends the Leader of the House and the Government Chief Whip for giving me this opportunity. If I may just reverse the order, my noble friend Lord Grocott has the onerous responsibility of delivering the Government's business. He does so with disarming charm and affability, which takes him a long way and earns our affection and respect.

My noble friend Lady Amos brings many attributes to the great office of Lord President through credits gained in her varied and successful career, not least in the skill and dedication she showed in her different ministerial capacities at the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. My personal regret about her career is that she became chief executive of the Equal Opportunities Commission after my period as chairman. I am sorry that I did not have the pleasure of working with her in that capacity.
 
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It was because of my own work as founding chairman of the EOC that I was offered a peerage in your Lordships' House. Now, when I look around, I see several Members who were associated with that commission. The noble Baroness, Lady Howe, the first deputy chairman, shares with me the scars of those early years of the commission's life. As we sought to influence the whole range of policy-making bodies across our society, we were faced with conflicting voices which caricatured us, on the one hand, as timid "fuddy-duddies" and, on the other, as interfering busybodies who went just too far. However, when the heads of many industrial and other institutions stopped defending their policies on the grounds that they employed more women than men, albeit in the lower ranks, and began proudly to boast of the achievements and aspirations of their daughters, we thought that our policy of education and persuasion, backed by strategic law enforcement, was just about right.

My noble friends Lady Turner and Lady Gibson were once members of the commission. The noble Baroness, Lady Platt, who often sits opposite me, succeeded me as chairman. The noble Lord, Lord Lester of Herne Hill, was invaluable in helping the commission to stretch to the limits the powers under the 1975 Act, through the establishment of new case law. On a different canvas, the noble Baroness, Lady Trumpington, then UK representative at the UN Commission on the Status of Women, helped to unite the international voice of women through her irresistible humour and sense of fun. It was good to be so involved in those days.

Now, of course, on all Benches in your Lordships' House there is so much talent shown by women who, in their own spheres, have demonstrated, and are continuing to demonstrate, the value of equal opportunities between women and men. I admit to indulging occasionally in a little self-satisfaction but, nevertheless, I am deeply conscious that there is so much still to be done 30 years on, particularly in the field of equal pay, as I am sure that my noble friend Lady Prosser and her new Commission on Women and Work know well.

I expect that, like me, noble Lords find an increasing interest in the future of this House. Recently, I was asked to speak on the question: "Is there a future for the House of Lords?" My answer in brief was simple and straightforward: "Yes, because the House of Lords is a survivor"?

For example, the controversial introduction of life Peers nearly half a century ago, in itself quite a revolutionary step, was accentuated by the inclusion of women. What would the noble Lords of that time think now of the 126 women Members who not only add colour to your Lordships' House, but make such a valuable contribution.

In 1958, however, some noble Lords appeared to be in a complete state of shock and thought that the introduction of women would be an unmitigated disaster, as Hansard records. Some were less than gallant about women in politics. One noble Lord, taking a more conciliatory approach, felt that the great
 
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function that this House had to perform was, "the revision of hasty and ill-conceived legislation". Yes, back in 1958, too. He went on to say: "That is not the particular métier of the female sex". He could not have been more wrong, as we now know through seeing women Ministers and other Front-Benchers alike skilfully debating the minutiae and implications of clauses.

The House of Lords not only survived, but took on a new lease of life. Even so, which of your Lordships would have thought, say 25 years ago, that within that short space of time, the third woman Leader of the House would be seen and that that third woman would be black, thus reflecting the cultural changes in our society and underlining the fact that, throughout our history, newcomers, whether they be political refugees or economic migrants, or even past conquerors, have brought new qualities and enrichment to our culture. When we come to think of it, the House of Lords itself has been a pretty good reflection of that history. No other institution, I venture to say, has been better or even as good at adapting—to survive.

What the future holds for the House is still a matter for speculation. Personally, I foresee a time in the not too distant future for a largely elected House. Your Lordships may resist it, as the House did in February 2003, when, of the seven options, it voted overwhelmingly for a fully appointed Chamber. I openly confess to being one who so voted. But in the short intervening period, climatic change seems to have been persistent here too, and the tide of opinion for an elected Chamber appears more evident, or perhaps it is that the concept of an appointed legislative Chamber sits less easily in our more assertive, open society.

In any event, the idea of an elected element should not cause your Lordships too much discomfort. It is not a new concept here. At one time, Irish and Scottish Peers were balloted on who should represent them in the House. Now, we have that curious, some might even say bizarre, system by which your Lordships have chosen to fill casual vacancies among the remaining hereditary Peers.

But I have been speculating. The gracious Speech makes no mention of that matter for the coming Session. We must contain our impatience and await events. In the mean time, there is much in the Speech to occupy your Lordships. It would seem we are here for a long Session!

Personally, I welcome the underlying philosophy of opportunity and security. Opportunity is certainly now more widespread. Security means security in all its aspects, ranging from international terrorism, to personal security, real and perceived, as well as economic and social security.

Opportunity and security are complementary. I know that well from my own childhood in a poor, working class family. It is not easy to grasp opportunity if you do not have the confidence, the social skills and the know-how that social and economic security bring. So I warmly welcome this theme.
 
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I also welcome the new equality and human rights Bill bringing together the existing legislation on sex, race and disability, with the opportunity to extend into other areas of discrimination, thus enabling the new commission to combat unfair discrimination wherever it may arise. Other Bills will complement that approach. No doubt they will be mentioned in the coming three days and my noble friend Lady Billingham may refer to one or two of them. In the mean time, I beg to move.

Moved, That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty in the following terms:

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