


I would point out that it is the general desire that to-day the debate should concentrate mainly, at any rate, upon foreign affairs, and I am sure it would be welcome to all Members of your Lordships' House that, so far as possible, this matter should be introduced first by the noble Earl, Lord Home, now established in this House as the leading expert on foreign affairs and the operative Minister. Knowing as we do that Her Majesty is the Head of the Reformed Church of England as well, and has taken this stand at this Fourth Centenary, we are sure that it will be an enormous encouragement to the Protestant majority in this country. I want to pay to Her Majesty-and I think it is appropriate at the present time-a special tribute for the great service she rendered, in my view, to the Protestants of the country in her visit to Scotland at the Fourth Centenary of the Reformation in Scotland. We wish Her Majesty every success in that direction. I feel certain that from our knowledge and from discussions during our various visits to India we shall fully expect to see great improvement not only in the conditions of the people in that area but in the relationships between India and Pakistan as separate nations in the future. In relation to the visit Her Majesty is making to the Indian and Pakistan leaders, I feel sure that my noble friends Lord Attlee and Lord Pethick-Lawrence have been particularly interested in that section of the gracious Speech from the Throne promising Government aid to India and Pakistan for the solution of problems in the Indus River Valley. I am grateful for the very heavy programme that the Sovereign has undertaken in the present gracious Speech from the Throne, and I feel sure that the whole House will want to wish her great success in the visits she and her husband are making to the East, to a number of places in Africa, and especially to the Republic of Italy. First of all, I would mention the record we had in the gracious Speech at the time of the Prorogation, giving particulars of what Her Majesty and her Consort, Prince Philip, and other members of the Royal Family had been able to do in various parts of the Commonwealth. My Lords, in opening what I have to say this afternoon upon the gracious Speech from the Throne, I should like to join on behalf of myself and my noble friends in the expressions of thanks to Her Majesty The Queen and members of the Royal Family for two things.
