Cook shows support for 'family-friendly' Commons
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Your support makes all the difference.Robin Cook marked his first speech as Leader of the Commons yesterday by signalling his support for moves to make Parliament more family-friendly.
Mr Cook, surprisingly demoted as Foreign Secretary in last week's reshuffle, led acclaim for Michael Martin as he was re-elected Commons Speaker.
In comments that will encourage Labour MPs pressing for further reform of Parliamentary hours, he praised Mr Martin for displaying the "necessary qualities of a modern Speaker".
Mr Cook said: "To an even younger chamber than before, your commitment that families will be remembered in the proceedings of this House will be particularly welcome. That commitment comes, of course, from the importance you attach to your own family."
Commons hours have been reformed in recent years, but it normally still sits until 10.30pm three nights a week. And repeated calls for the opening of a Commons crèche have fallen on stony ground.
Mr Martin, the MP for Glasgow Springburn, who succeeded Betty Boothroyd in October, pledged to "do all within my power to preserve and cherish its traditions".
Delivering a coded warning to ministers not to take the Commons for granted, he told a packed Chamber: "It is the Speaker's duty to serve the House, not the executive."
As tradition dictates, Mr Martin was "dragged", to the sound of applause, to the Commons chair by colleagues.
Almost 100 new MPs were in Westminster yesterday as the Commons returned with the sole duty of selecting a Speaker. They heard a succession of senior opposition figures complain that the Commons' ability to hold the Government to account had diminished.
The Tory leader, William Hague, said: "Few things would give me greater satisfaction in politics than to see this House once again restored to the centre of our national life."
He suggested the "decline" of the Commons had "in some ways contributed to the disconnection between the public and Parliament that was highlighted by the lamentably low turn-out of voters last week".
Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, also warned that the apathetic response to the election carried a warning for the Commons. "I do hope early steps will be taken to look at our procedures and practices in here to make them relevant and comprehensible to the people out there."
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