. under the provisions of standing order 1a, i am now required to ascertain whether he is willing to be chosen as speaker? .

above all, ioul defend the right of backbenchers to hold the government to account and to -- and to champion the causes dear to their heart. for better or for worse, i have become known for insisting on short questions and short answers. sometes a short speech is also appropriate. so i shall leave it there in order to demonstrate that once in awhile, at least, i do practice what i preach.

thank you. >> point of order. could i ask a procedural question? this is an extremely important time for this house and for its democratic future. we're in the process of electing a speaker without the opportunity of understanding or hearing what his views are on the long-term future of this hoe. could i therefore ask what safeguards are employees should the speaker decide to change the constitution of our country, either to consolidate or indeed to stabilise the opposition or his position? what the criteria required to support any such moves, for example, the 55% provision that the government wishes to embrace -- it is thereby known as the mugabe question? >> the honorable member has made his point and i am sure that it has -- it has been heard, but it

is not a point of order for me to deal with under the standing orders. the house will have other oprtunities to debate these matters. i call the right honorable member for kensington. >> i beg to move that the right honorable john bercow do take the chair of this house as speaker. may i first, sir peter, have the pleasure of congratulating you on your appointmt -- on your elevation as father of the house? you first entered this chamber in 1959, when harold macmillan was prime minister. since then, you have established your reputation as a member who speaks on matters with the greatest of clarity and with the deepest of passion. that has been your trademark.

indeed, it has been said that when sir peter -- sir peter tapsell rises -- [laughter] ambiguity is always very dangerous. it has been so that wn sir peter arises, he does so not to speak but to intone superbly. we give you our affectionate congratulations on your position. it is not my purpo today to intone superbly or otherwise, but to recommend theight honorable membe the member for buckingham. i am conscious that as he has said this is not an occasion for long speeches, and therefore i will emulate king henry viii, who is reputed to have said to each of his six wives, of enclosed please do not worry -- i do not intend to keep you long." the right honorable gentleman was elected by secret ballot

last year in june, and i have to make a revelation. on that occasion i did not vote for him. i've voted for my right honorable friend the leader of the house, whom i congratulate on the position that he occupies today. but the fact that i did not vote for him is in the sense an opportunity, because i have had the opportunity with an open mind to see the right honorable gentleman act as speaker over the past 11 months, and i have been impressed. i first entered this house in 1974 when selwyn lloyd was the speaker, and i have seen six speakers and eration. they all had very great strengths, and most of them had personal characteristics as well. [laughter] i'd just wanted the time available to draw attention very briefly to three aspects that i think the house should consider in deciding whether they're right honorable gentleman should

continue as speaker. first of all, one of the requirements is that the speaker must be absolutely fair between individual members. that goes without saying. it is standard t our procedures. and i do not think th anyone would dispute that the right honorable gentleman has indeed operated in that way. the sec requirement is that while the speaker has great power and great authority,ut when the house is in turmoil or threatening to descend into turmoil, he must use not only his power with flexibility, but on occasion with humor as well in order to reduce the temperature that might otherwise arise. the greatest exponent that -- of that was speaker george thomas, and i remember one glorious evening when there was a real disruption in the house. hottest nationalist member was speaking -- the member in question was speaking with a very strong scottish accent and was speaking very fast, and me honorable members from south of

the border could not entirely follow what was being said. an english labour got up on a point of order and said we cannot understand a word that is being said. may please have simultaneous translation? there was immediate turmoil in the house and speaker thomas, known as one who spoke with a great welsh lilt, said, order, order. there are many accents in this place. i sometimes wish i had one myself. [laughter] and immediately the trauma was over. i believe the right honorable gentleman has those qualities and has shown them in abundance. the third and final talent that is required is the recognized -- is to recognize that the speaker is of course the champion of the backbenchers against not just those on the government front bench but those on the opposition front edge.

-- front bench i may say, having served on the front bench for more than 20 years, that i have come more to that point in recent years. but it is crucially important because the speaker was a ritual of the protector of this house against the crown. the threat today is not so much from the crown and her majesty, but from her majesty's government and her majesty's opposition. i believe that the right honorable gentleman has already shown himself to be is an ugly robust at intervening on both prime ministers and leaders of the opposition if they are going on too long and interrupting the smooth business of the house. one very final -- one very final point, sir peter, before i sit down. we have had in the last 11 months a modern speaker for a modern age. the comment was made some months ago that perhaps he was too young to be on the speaker's chair. i do not think that argument can be used very easily now. he is 47, which makes him four

years older than both the prime minister and the deputy prime minister and eight years older than the chancellor of t exchequer. i think the house can be reassured that if it chooses him today, we will indeed have some experience and gravitas in the speaker's chair. i commend him to the house. >> the question is, does john bercow do take the chair of this house as speaker? as many of that opinion, saying aye. on the contrary, no. i think the ayes -- [applause] i think the ayes habit. the ayes have it.

>> before take the chair as eaker-elect, i wish first thank the house for the honor that it has again bestowed upon me. i am aware that it is the greatest honor ican giveo

any of its members. i prayed that i shall justify its continuing confidence and i propose to do all within my power to preserve and to cherish its best traditions. the prime minister. [laughter] >> the prime minister. [applause] >> thank you, mr. speaker-elect, and may add be the first offer you congratulations on your election? i note this is our second of electoral success this month. i have to say that there were times during the general election where i was a little concerned about your safe return

to parliament, but i am glad to se that the mostly conservative-inclined voters of buckingham stuck with you. i hope that there will not be too much family strife if i welcome the fact that similarly inclined voters in st. james ward and the london borough of westminster did the same thing. my i also congratulate my friend the honorable member for louth and horncastle four becoming the father of the house. he first worked with a conservative prime minister in 1955 when he was personal assistant to anthony eden. famous for his put doms, he once said to me on one of our many trips to the northern lobby, you call yourself a modernizer but i think that is rubbish. as far i can see, you're just like harold and rab. his knowledge and experience of the house are unmatched and he is dearly valued. perhaps not everyone who is here today, those who have not sat through the past two parliaments

-- will understand why i say that he is worth his weight in gold. mr. speaker-elect, i know that we were all shocked to learn what happened on friday to the right honorable member for east ham. our thoughts should be with him and we wish him a swift return to help into his place in this house. i would like to use this opportunity also to welcome all the newly elected members of parliament on both sides of the house. this is a new era for our politics and something of a new start, a chance for a new generationo show just how good this place can be. everyone knows, mr. speaker- elect, that you have a deep respect and affection for this place. you believe in changing the role of backbenchers and you know how much we need to do to improve the reputation of our parliament. there wille new challenges, not least with the first coalition government for 65 years. the a new parliament.

-- with 232 new members of parliament, this will very much be a new parliament. we have 72 new women mp's and 16th amendment -- members of parliament from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, and i am proud that my party played its part in delivering that result. it really does look and fl different. indeed many of us are sitting next to people we of never sat next to before. the real test will be building trust between parliament and the people we serve, giving people the power to recall mp's engaged in wrongdoing, and making the right decisions in this house about everything -- everything from expenses to pensis to processes -- everything necessary to clean up our house -- our politics. it is within our gift to do this in our responsibility to make sure that we did. i think we can end the chronic short-termism of the past, we can put national interest ahead of party interest, and we can work together provide -- find

solutions of the profound problems facing our nation. mr. speaker-elect, you preside over a new parliament and which all be determined to take our country in a historic new direction. >> i thank the prime minister for that speech and i call the leader of the opposition. >> back to join in the congratulations to the honorable member for louth and horncastle on what i should perhaps describe as his ascension to the father of the house? my i also congratulate you, mr. speaker-elect, on resuming the speaker's chair? and you will be dedicated, that you are 100% committed to this house and that will be fair to both sides and toront and backbenchers. you will have the full confidence and support of the house and that you will receive my advice on occasions as well. may i also congratulate all those members who have been reelected? we've had a place ourselves in front of our constituents and account for our work over the past years, buand it is a great

honor and privilege to be reelected no matter how many times i am reelected, it is still a great thrill and an awesome privilege, even though i have been a member of this house since i was not -- since i was 32 -- and, believe me, that was not recently. [laughter] i should like to congratulate and very warmly welcome all new members, who receive a great deal of advice from older members. they will say things like, were in their robes and keep your head down -- probably for about the first 10 years. iuggest that new members ignore that it buys. ou are elected by your constituents to blaze a trail and speak up for them, and i am sure that that is what you will did. can i offer my congratulations to the new prime minister krishna mark he has an awesome and heavy responsibility. we all agree, i think, that we

need strong and stable government, and but we also should all agree that we need strong opposition. we will be a strong, effective, self confident and determined opposition, holding this government to account. so if i could conclude with two further points, by joining him in sding all our best wishes to the rumble in it -- the honorable member for peace tam who was attacked in his constituency at an advice surgery. i think we all send him our best wishes. i could make one final point which ise all have our differences in this house, but i think all of us are united in being very pleased and relieved that there is nowhere on these green benches and member of the british national party. >> mr. angus robertson. >> if iould briefly congratulate the new leader of

the house in yourself and your re-election. i want to make a brief contribution and highlight the point that there is no longer a second uk-wide opposition party in this house. that underlines the point that it is the parties of northern ireland, wales and scotland that which will take in much more of the work of the scrutiny of what now be opposition. -- will now be the labour opposition. i am grateful for their helpful support in this endeavor. i want to put one last thing on record. it is important that there are great many people who served in this house during the last parliament with great distinction who were not reelected or retired at the last election. i want to put on record on behalf of all parties and all corners, our appreciation for all the work performed by those mp's.

we wish you every success and we are pleased that you again reiterated the importance of hearing the voices from all parts of the house and all the nations of the uk. >> i am grateful to the honorable gentleman for that speech. he has set out very clearly for new members an indication of of how to take one's opportunities at the outset of a new parliament. i do not know of any other colleague wishes to contribute, but if none -- mr. david blunket >> on behalf of backbenchers, mr. speaker, i like to congratulate you and thank the father of the house for reminding me that i was only 12 when he was elected to the house. that has made me feel a lot wonder -- a lot younger. mr. speaker, you held the chair in the previous parliament. your even-handed and fair to all major parties and were fair

between members. your rigorous, so i shall brief. just wanted to say that one of the things that you advocated and that was debated at length was the need for new politics. the need for this house to be able to hold the executive -- the government to account more effectively. the ability to call to the house, as you did on many occasions with my own government, through private notice questions ministers who did not report to the house things that they were announcing in public before this house have had a chance to meet. i hope, mr. speaker, that despite the fact that it would appearthat major constitutional announcements which relate to this house, to the voting system, and to the upper chamber -- major announcements on expenditure cuts and already major announcements on changes to how this house might rid itself of a government that no longer had the confidence of the

house -- all three of those major announcements appeared to have been made prior to parliament convening next week. one of those announcements only 48 hou before it would be possible for the chancellor of the exchequer and the chief secretary to report directly to the south. mr. speaker, we look forward to you defending our interests as backbenchers for whichever party, but we look forward most of all to you being able to reassert the ideas that were promoted before it the last general election, that we should not be engag in fixes, we should not have the old caballing, which should have open, honest, forthright debate, and that parliamentarians should geinely be at all the hold this new coalition to account.

>> i'm grateful to the right honorable member for sheffield, brightside and hillsborough, who has reminded me of my commitment to scriny and accountability, and i happily underline that commitment this afternoon. in closing my remarks, i would just like to reiterate what has already been said by others -- namely, new members deserve a huge welcome and every possible encouragement and exhortation to go about their business in the way that they think that on behalf of their consumer trends -- of their constituents. >> i beg to move that this house do now adjourn. >> question is that this house do now adjourn until tomorrow at 10 minutes past 3:00. as many as are in favor, say a yes. opposed, no.

i think the eyeayes have it. tghhe ayes have it. order, order. >> george osbourne gave his first speech this past wednesday. he is the cabinet minister responsible economic and financial matters. he was appointed by the new prime minister, conservative leader david cameron, and is faced with a budget deficit forecast to be 12% of gdp, the highest of the eu countries including greece. he spoke to the federation of british industry's. [applause] >> helen, thank you very much for that introduction. when you invited the chancellor of the injector to attend this

dinner, i don't think he knew he was going to turn out. it is good to be here. and it is a historic occasion. an event where liberal democrats and conservative cabinet ministers are sitting side by side in the first coalition that this country has seen since the second world war. it has been a remarkable seven days in british politics. i hope it will b a remarkable five years and we can turn this country are rendered this is my first major speech in this drought, and thank you very much for the invitation. it is no coincidence that the first person i called after getting the job was richard. that is, i hope you will see, a reflection on the importance that the british business committee and the importance i attach to it cbi as a

representative of the cmunity. it is good to have in my cabinet colleagues the last conservative chancellor of the exchequer. [applause] is positively beaming and the role as lord chancellor of the country. we are here to show our support and our commitment to thebi and our support the business and i want to begin by thanking so many of the business to -- the businesses here, who normally stay out of the political frame and are independent quite rightly of any polical party, but who came together in their hundreds in a news better -- and newspaper letter-writing campaign to make the case for enterprise.

with your help, we fought and won an argument about the best way to build a sustainable private sector recovery. instead of more wasteful government spending and more taxes on job creation of the kind that helen warned us about, we said that we would start immediaty identifying savings so that we could stop the jobs tax. and that is eactly what we have done. and i can confirm that we will deliver on our promise to stop most of the increases to the employer natiol insurance contribution in the coming dget in order to save jobs and support the recovery. [applause] and the result of that will mean employing someone will be less expensive than it would've been, regardless of income. it ll encourage employers to

create jobs and help protect existing jobs, especially for those on low and middle incomes. and this argument, that government is to do everything it can to support the private sector recovery, will b my guiding prciple as chancellor. because i believe that when you succeed, britain succeeds. now back in the late 1990's, this seemed a rather obvious argument to make. and all politicians, left and right, play -- paid lip service to enterprise. but the events of the intervening years have shown that we can never assume that that argument is won. today public spending has risen to almost 50% of our economy. over 5 million people are out of work and on national benefits. record numbers are economically inactive. and even now, there are still

those who argue seriously that yet more increases in public spending are the answers to our problems. no wonder too many people around the world thought that britain had put up a sign that said "closed for business." today we take that sign down. we need to start making a profit -- the case for enterprise all ov again. this is something every generation needs to do in its own way. let me tell you about my generation. were shaped by the collapse of communism and the fall of the berlin wall. and this new government is comprised of people whose views were forged by that experience. for conservatives, we felt it was a vindication of our economic arguments, but perhaps we were too slow to understand that the free market and smaller government needs to go hand-in- hand with a bigger society.

and we understand that now. and it brought to the fore as well and new breed of liberal democrats, such as my excellent chief secretary david loss -- who understood that a fair society needs free marke to sustain it. and just as we conservatives have looked to the future and reached back to our one nation tradition, so my liberal democratic colleagues have looked to the future by reaching back to the inspiration of gladstonian liberalism. so together we will use the opportunity provided by this new coalition government to send the signal that britain once again is open for business. and i want people around the country and all over the world to know that if you want to come here, invest here, create jobs here, that we will be on your si. we will back enterprise, not just as an end to itself, but as the way to build a stronger and fairer society. fairer society.