The debate on the Queen’s speech is one of the great set-pieces of the Parliamentary year. Yesterday, the Loyal Address was proposed by Frank Dobson, the veteran MP for Holborn and St Pancras, who is both delightfully unreconstructed Old Labour and a very kind man (he once offered to buy me a coffee when I found myself without funds at the Portcullis House coffee shop).
Frank’s speech was extremely funny; the following story about his predecessor, Lena Jeger, gives a flavour:
She used to retell the tale that at her by-election in 1953 she was canvassing the top flat of a block in Camden Town. She launched into the great left-wing issue of the day—German rearmament and the threat it posed to international security. She stopped for breath, and the woman at the door asked, “Did you come up in the lift?”, and Lena says, “Yes.” “Stinks of pee, doesn’t it?” says the woman. “Yes,” says Lena. “Can’t you stop ’em peeing in our lift?” says the woman. “I don’t think I can,” says Lena. “Well,” says the woman, “if you can’t stop ’em peeing in our lift, how can you expect me to believe you can stop the Germans rearming?” A timeless lesson for us all.
The chamber was, of course, very full for the opening of the debate. As a consequence, I found myself sitting on the furthermost back benches, behind the DUP and the small contingent from Plaid Cymru and the SNP.
David Cameron opened his contribution by congratulating Frank Dobson and Emily Thornberry, the Labour MP who had seconded the Loyal Address. He then went on to welcome William Bain, the new Labour Member for Glasgow North-East, who had just taken his seat:
I expect that we will see the hon. Gentleman back in the House after the next election. I am sure there are many things that we will disagree about, but one thing on which I hope we will always agree is that we should never do anything to break up our United Kingdom.
At that point, one of the Plaid Cymru MPs dug his SNP neighbour in the ribs; they glanced at each other and both sniggered.
It was a telling moment.
