Member

I now come to the second element of Amendment 44A, which is an extension to the oath that I suggest Members should take at the commencement of Parliament and at the start of every new Session. I emphasise that what I am talking about is an extension to, not a substitution for, the oath of loyalty that Members presently take. The language in my amendment reflects the language of the oath taken by a privy councillor on appointment. I have to acknowledge that I took the Privy Council oath so many years ago that I cannot fully recall its text, so I have had to rely on published material, but I believe that the text is correctly set out in my amendment. In any event, however archaic they are, those words accurately reflect how Members of this House should conceive their duties. The oath reads: