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Mr Mayor, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. This is a very special honour for me, and I deeply appreciate the opportunity to propose the toast to the Mayor and Council of the city of Worcester.
I hope you will allow me, ladies and gentlemen, to break slightly with tradition and modify the toast slightly so that it encompasses the Mayoress as well, as Jill deserves recognition and our thanks for the wonderful support she gives her husband and for the hard work she puts in as well. She, like Roger, has given devoted service to the people of Worcester, in her case as a primary school teacher. I have a particular respect and affection for that profession, as teaching is the career both my daughters are following, and it’s what my mother did as well.
I am reminded of the words of the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, who said:
“Teachers, who educate children, deserve more honour than parents, who merely gave them birth; for the latter provided mere life, while the former ensure a good life.”
Roger Berry is the latest in a long line of distinguished public servants who have held the office of Mayor, the first of whom was elected in 1621. There have not been too many Labour mayors over the past 309 years, but I have no doubt that Roger’s mayoralty is going to be a really memorable one.
If you look at what he has achieved in his life, you realise that it is an extraordinary record of commitment to helping people with difficulties, disabilities and problems. As a trained social worker he worked 37 years in the county’s social services department. He is a passionate supporter of the National Health Service, and was a member of both the community health council and the district health authority.
And in addition to a great raft of charitable activities, he cares deeply about housing and homelessness, and it is entirely fitting that he should have chosen two fine local organisations caring for the homeless as his mayoral charities – St Paul’s Hostel and the Maggs Day Centre.
Worcester is very lucky to have him as our first citizen this year.
And what an amazing year this is! His term of office started with the arrival in the city of the Olympic torch and all the razzmatazz of it being taken through the streets to New Road. Just nine days ago we had that fabulous Diamond Jubilee visit by Her Majesty the Queen. The city is still buzzing as a result. And let me nail my colours to the mast: I think the Hive is a wonderful building, both inside and out. Fantastic facilities for study and reading, and a really bold statement of self-confidence on the part of the city, the county and particularly the university.
I am honoured to be a Fellow of the university, which is not only an extraordinary success in terms of our country’s higher education, it is also a really great power for good in our own city, and the whole West Midlands region.
Like you, Mr Mayor, I moved to Worcester from Malvern, which is where my father retired to in the 1960s when I was a student. I regard myself as very fortunate in being able to combine a working life in the House of Lords with having the opportunity to make some contribution to some of the really great organisations here in the city.
I am a director of Worcester Live, and I am delighted to pay tribute to the city council’s commitment in supporting the theatre.
I have already spoken about the university, and we are so lucky in having so many marvellous sporting organisations here too.
The Warriors, the county cricket club, the rowing club, Worcester Wolves basketball, the racecourse, and last, but far from least, a cause very close to my heart, Worcester City Football Club. Their time will come again, I am sure.
Another organisation I’m pleased to support is the Worcester Twinning Association which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.
They do a marvellous job with our twin cities in France, Germany and Lithuania, and have asked me to help promote the relationship with our friends in Worcester Massachusetts. I visited them there last year, and in 2010, and found that there is huge goodwill towards us, but no budget to promote reciprocal visits.
We shall persevere, and look forward to seeing their people over here when it’s possible for them to come.
You may have noticed that I tend not to get involved in party political debate whilst I am here in Worcester. That is quite deliberate. Despite the efforts of the Worcester News to describe me as “Worcester’s representative in the House of Lords”, that is not my job. The person who represents Worcester in Parliament is the man or woman elected to the House of Commons.
It is of course possible that all that could change if a certain Mr Clegg were to have his way, with the House of Lords abolished and replaced by an elected senate. In those circumstances Robin Walker or his successor could easily find themselves having to cope with a troublesome senator anxious to get equal or greater airtime or newspaper column inches.
Without straying too far into the realm of political controversy I have to say that the chances of that happening do seem to have receded a little in the past couple of weeks, due in part I have to say to Robin Walker’s courage in defying his whips on the second reading of the Clegg bill, and to the efforts of our neighbouring MP for Hereford, Jesse Norman.
The House of Lords is a remarkable place in which to work. These days it is a long way removed from the sort of house described in Lord Home’s memoirs, where a civil servant was said to have put on the bottom of a ministerial brief “This is a rotten argument, but it should be good enough for their lordships on a hot summer afternoon.”
My main job as a Lords minister was to speak about transport. Many of you may be aware that I care passionately about the railway, and I am desperate to see it prosper and play its full part in our nation’s transport set-up.
That is why I am president of the Cotswold Line Promotion Group, campaigning for a better and faster train service from Worcester to Oxford and London. As recently as Wednesday this week, I was speaking on the platform at Moreton-in-Marsh celebrating the returning of the Adelante 125 mph expresses to the Cotswold Line.
I am also president of the Heritage Railway Association. How splendid it was that the Queen came to Worcester by the Royal Train, hauled magnificently by the Princess Elizabeth steam locomotive!
Thank you so much for listening to me this evening. It now gives me the greatest pleasure to propose a toast to The Mayor and Council of the City of Worcester.