Because of the number of new members introduced into the House, we are having a good number of maiden speeches. In a recent debate on women in society, we had no fewer than seven maiden speeches. In yesterday’s debate on the Finance Bill, there were two. I rather enjoyed the opening of the short maiden speech by Lord Spicer, formerly Sir Michael Spicer who chaired the Conservatives’ 1922 Committee for nine years:
“Lord Spicer: My Lords, 36 years ago almost to the day and the hour, I made my maiden speech in the other place. I spoke in the Second Reading of the Finance Bill, and as punishment was put on the Finance Bill Committee for the next five years. Luckily, that cannot happen to me here. It was my first speech in Parliament but it was almost one of my best. Inflation at the time was raging at 20 per cent, which is completely unsustainable and I came to the conclusion and suggested in my speech that it would result in middle-class revolution. I said that middle-class people would be marching on the streets between the fruit-growing areas of Evesham in my constituency and the Malvern Hills. I was completely wrong-they all stayed at home-but it was a magnificent speech.
I am afraid that this one will not be as good for various reasons, not least that it will be short-I have almost finished it already…”
“36 years ago”
It just goes to show how long ago it was that he robbed me of the seat!
I look forward to Lord Beecham of Benwell`s maiden speech later in the week, a friends brother.
Of course it was only his introduction, I was misled I`m afraid and not thinking of recess !
I glean a more wholesome ‘life-oriented’ perspective from maiden-speeches than it is possible to derive from all other parliamentary talk;
which I think is as it needs to be, and with which until the day dawns when a British Non-Legislative House of Life-Experience and Knowledge is established and constituted, with many thousands of life-experienced seats in addition to the many thousands of at-call Experts, I do concur.
The more two-dimensional ‘perspective’ maiden-speech nonetheless still leaves me starving for better participatorily-constructive enablements, I mean enablements as a constructively-participative democratic-citizen as well as as a ‘real-life-entrapped’ human-being.
I have not yet heard one maiden speech that has not moved some part of my real-life ‘heart’ that all else Parliamentary never touches.
============
(JSDM1457T27July10)
I have just seen the two maiden-speeches 27 July by Baroness Hughes of Stretford and Lord Davies of Stamford respectively.
(Quite coincidentally both are from Labour in the Commons, and both are undoubtedly quite reasonably up-to-date ‘experts’ in both Anti-Terrorist-Defences/Anti-Piracy-Ransoms, and Protection of every individual citizen and neighbourhood in Britain against both the physical destructivities and the financial and property erosions that both Terrorism and Piracy actually are intent upon);
and once again my heart was touched, and especially by those “maiden’s” following speakers’ (Lord Mackay (Cons) and Lord Myners (lab)) deep and human insights into the life-histories of the Baroness Hughes and the Lord Davies respectively;
and after all smiles had been removed from my face during those two truly knowledgeable and potentially constructive and defence-promoting maiden-speeches very notably under the Lords debate on “Terrorist Assets-Freezing”, I felt the indispensable value of the two follow-up appreciations by two older Lords (I am guessing each originally from the Commons ?) whose respective appreciations moved me very deeply, to that wondrous human-freedom experience of the ‘lump in the throat’.
===========
(jsdm0955W28July10)