The wit of Lord Hart in seconding the loyal address at the start of the session was not confined to the quote I gave in an earlier post.  His speech was littered with extremely funny reflections on his period working as special adviser to Lord Chancellor Lord Irvine and his successor Lord Falconer:

They both had huge energy and ability and were, in quite different ways, formidable advocates. They were prodigiously hard-working and—quite surprisingly for me at least—in going for a train, both of them had an astonishing turn of speed along platforms and going up stairs, leaving me hopelessly trailing behind carrying the bags.

He then went on to comment on the sartorial strengths of his former bosses.  I should by way of background mention that Lord Falconer had a capacity on occasion for appearing with one side of his collar facing down and the other facing upwards:

Although I received abusive telephone calls for not preventing the noble and learned Lord, Lord Irvine, from abandoning his knee breeches, tights and buckled shoes, in fact, surprisingly, neither Lord Chancellor ever sought my advice on their personal appearance, make-up or clothing. Of course, one might say that their impeccable sense of style was the only guide they needed; indeed, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, has become an icon for the shirt industry. Very sensibly, they rejected my suggestion that they might appear on “The Simpsons”.