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Chair (Terminology)

I will be extremely brief, as I spoke at some length last Monday. Let me say to my friend—he is my friend—and parliamentary neighbour the hon. Member for South Staffordshire (Sir Patrick Cormack) that I have enjoyed over the years hearing him denounce furniturism. But I also have to tell him that if we can safely and sensibly move from a term that is intrinsically gender-laden to one that is gender-neutral, we should do it. We should do it not because of political correctness but as a matter of common sense and common courtesy. In 2010, I think we can take that step in some kind of safety. Everyone, from the Prime Minister downwards and sideways, has said that strengthening Parliament is the mission before us. We all make the speeches, but this is the moment we get a chance to do it. It is appropriate that most of us are reflecting today on the life of Michael Foot. I do not claim for a second that Michael would be in the Lobby with me today. If I did, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derby, South (Margaret Beckett) would tell me I was wrong. I know, however, that we could not reflect on Michael Foot in a better way than by showing determination to strengthen the institution that he loved. Plenty of accolades have been given out during this debate. Let me now give my own accolade to my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent, Central (Mark Fisher), who, incidentally, has just returned from the surgeon's knife. Many years ago he set up an organisation called Parliament First, and he has toiled year in year out to enable us to reach the point that we have reached today. He has just told me that this represents the culmination of his parliamentary life. He deserves huge credit for what he has done. Our proposals are not ad hoc, isolated proposals; they have a theme. The theme is that the time has come for the House to reclaim responsibility for itself and its own business. That is what unifies our proposals on Select Committees. As we now say endlessly, it cannot be right for the Executive or the party managers to control the membership of Select Committees, either directly or indirectly. The only way to alter that system, as we discovered in our deliberations, is to move to a system of election.