It is a privilege and pleasure for me to add a small word of appreciation to the felicitous speeches by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and the eminent right hon. Members for Ebbw Vale (Mr. Foot) and for Glasgow, Hillhead (Mr. Jenkins), who addressed us from the Opposition Benches.

On 9 May 1979 you were elected Speaker following the proposal of myself, seconded by the right hon. Member for Sunderland, North (Mr. Willey). The conventions of the House compel me to refer to him as the right hon. Member, but he is, of course, my right hon. Friend in every real sense of the word, and I am very glad to see him in his place today. I only wish that all my clients had turned out as well as you, Mr. Speaker.

In submitting yourself, Mr. Speaker, in accordance with ancient custom to the will of the House, you used the following words: The right hon. and learned Member for Hertfordshire, East has now proposed or seconded the re-election of the Speaker more often than I have preached Methodist sennons." —[Official Report, 9 May 1979; Vol. 967, c. 7.] Modesty forbids me to continue the citation, but I cannot suppress the gratitude I feel. In the words of Cicero, so familiar to all here present— Laetus sum laudare a laudato viro. You, Mr. Speaker, are certainly a man highly praised, and rightly and universally praised.

I am honoured to have proposed your election as Speaker, and the House will readily appreciate that toovercome, so triumphantly, the initial handicap of assuming high office on my proposition points clearly and conclusively to a very high quality indeed. The high quality of your performance, Mr. Speaker, in the great office of Speaker, rests on much more substantial evidence than any mere testimony of mine. It is evidenced by the record known to, and appreciated by, us all.

When I had the honour to second your initial election as Speaker on 3 February 1976 I used these words of you: He is richly endowed with those qualities that make a good parliamentarian and a much-loved colleague — not only eloquence and judgment, although he has both in good measure, but courtesy and consideration, affability and sensibility, kindliness and good humour, and a wit that often scores but never wounds." — [Official Report, 3 February 1976; Vol. 904, c. 1156.] Today, I reaffirm those words, but I do more. What I said then as to your quality is confirmed and proven, clear beyond peradventure. What was then expectation is now realisation. What was then confident surmise is now established fact. What was then aspiration for the future is now present certainty, based on the solid foundation of past performance.

I have known six Speakers in 11 Parliaments and, indeed, the right hon. Member for Glasgow, Hillhead has referred to them. They all had distinctive qualities and all made a valuable contribution to the service of this House. However, your contribution, Mr. Speaker, has been second to none and is not even excelled by that of my much loved and greatly venerated friend, "Shakes" Morrison, who was Speaker in the 1950s. It is not for me to dilate on the great eminence of the office of Speaker, which you have filled with such distinction, because such matter; are known to us all.

In his office, Mr. Speaker is a sign and symbol of the authority of Parliament and a sign and symbol too of those great parliamentary institutions which, cradled here in Westminster in the mists of the middle ages, have gone out to the uttermost ends of the earth. The Speaker of the House of Commons is the custodian of our parliamentary rights, the guardian of our parliamentary liberties and of our heritage, acquired for us by our forefathers over long and laborious years. By his office, Mr. Speaker is the head and front of British parliamentary institutions, themselves a model and exemplar far beyond these shores, wherever democracy is practised and liberty is prized.

Today, we salute you, omnium consensu. It is perhaps good for us to remember, on the eve of a period of vigorous exchanges on the hustings, that in this great democracy of ours the things that unite us are deeper and more lasting than those that put us asunder. One and all, irrespective of party, are here a goodly company and heirs to a great tradition, exercising on behalf of those we here represent those democratic rights and freedoms taken perhaps for granted through long enjoyment in this country, but envied by many people in many lands who have them not. They are like the air we breathe—little noticed in their presence but valued beyond price in the event of deprivation.

If I continued longer the House would weary not of your excellence but of my iteration. We salute you here today. This is the last speech that I shall make in the House that I have known so long, loved so well and sought to serve a little. I cannot adequately express to you, Mr. Speaker, the deep and abiding pleasure it gives me that this last speech should be made in tribute to your high quality and great service, assisted at all times by the zeal, expertise and unvaried helpfulness of our distinguished Clerk of the House and his admirable team.

In gratitude and affection, I thank you, Mr. Speaker, from the bottom of my heart and wish you well, now and at all times.