Peace in Parliament

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33819, 16 April 1975, Page 20

Peace in Parliament

The Standing Orders of Parliament have much to say about speaking, but almost nothing on the subject of silence, except when it is commanded by the Speaker in the House. That should not discourage the United Nations Association from pressing its case for a “ room of quiet ” to be set aside in Parliament for the meditation of those “ devoted to peace". The association obviously has in mind something more than the sombre gloom which can be expected to prevail in the emergency defence headquarters under Parliament’s new beehive building. Comparison with the meditation room at the United Nations headquarters in New York is, however, unfortunate. Meditation seems to have done little to restore the civility, let alone the peaceful intentions, of many members of that organisation. Hard-pressed Parliamentarians might indeed welcome some secluded neutral territory w here they could escape from debate, the rantings of pressure groups and the pressures of business. A silent, solemn enclave—shoes off at the door and no noisy worn’ beads or cigarette lighters admitted—would hardly serve. Politicians need a refuge where they can relax with their own kind, soften the hard words of the chamber with discussion of less contentious matters, and even recite their own verses if they will. In other words, just the mixture of club and bar which the new Bellamys can be expected to provide.

A meditation room might still function as a place of exile for any member suspended by the Speaker and ordered to withdraw from the chamber. A sportsman ordered from the field to cool off in a “ sin bin ” could hardly feel more savagely punished than a politician ordered to silence. The punishment would need to be brief, for as Dr Johnson pointed out, the longer talk is suspended, the more difficult it is to find anything to say, A growing number of politicians with nothing to say. even to the next batch of suggestions from the United Nations Association, would make the community uneasy, to say the least That sort of behaviour could give politics a bad name.