Lord Griffiths of Burry Port (Lab)

My Lords, I add my thanks to the noble Baroness both for introducing this debate and for snatching every single remark that I had carefully put together by way of a contribution to this debate. We will have to sort this out at dawn with pistols. It is a great privilege to hear the wisdom that has come from so many quarters in this debate. It gives me an opportunity to offer my thanks to and admiration of the noble Lord, Lord Harris, for all the work he has done, even given the qualifying remarks that we heard a moment ago, which has provided a platform over its longevity on which to build and develop some of the ideas that have been in play. So here I am, likely to finish before three minutes. Since I think that is worth saying, I do say it. It also allows me to put in a personal word: since I came into your Lordships’ House—nearly a quarter of a century ago now—I have consistently had young teenagers on work experience in my office. They amount now to dozens. Also, a student, either an undergraduate or a postgraduate, has given me 10 hours a week of support with some aspects of my work. One is up there beavering away at the moment on something I will sign off when I go up there. I mention this not to point to my own virtue but to say that I have become aware of the help that has been given to these young people when they apply for jobs and are able to say they have had some experience in Parliament. It may therefore be an obvious thing for us to say, but we can make our practical contribution to the solving of problems we have been sharing with each other this afternoon. So here I am. I will count the next 40 seconds as a credit on my next speech.