---

Queen's Diamond Jubilee

My Lords, the Secretary of State was absolutely right to focus our attention on the first weekend in June. I thank him for doing so. I offer him a slightly broader thought. If my memory serves me right, I recall, as a boy, being herded along with thousands of other young people in Belfast to greet the new monarch. Although there will be an element of stress to Her Majesty, I encourage those who make the decisions throughout the course of the year—it cannot be done in a weekend—to enable as many people in the nation as possible to see their monarch on the Diamond Jubilee without having to come to London.