455
House of Commons
Thursday 16 November 1989
The House met at half-past Nine o'clock
PRAYERS
[MR. SPEAKER in the Chair] Message to attend the Lords Commissioners: The House went:—and, having returned:
10.8 am
Royal Assent
16 NOVEMBER 1989
Mr. Speaker: I have to acquaint the House that the House has been to the House of Peers where a Commission under the Great Seal was read, authorising the Royal Assent to the following Acts:
Brunei (Appeals) Act 1989 Football Spectators Act 1989 Employment Act 1989
Self-Governing Schools etc. (Scotland) Act 1989 Companies Act 1989
Children Act 1989
Local Government and Housing Act 1989 Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1989
Opticians Act 1989
Prisons (Scotland) Act 1989
Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Act 1989 Midland Metro Act 1989
International Westminster Bank Act 1989 British Railways (Penalty Fares) Act 1989
Prorogation
456
Prorogation
HER MAJESTY's Most Gracious SpeeCH
Mr. Speaker: I have further to acquaint the House that the Lord High Chancellor, onc of the Lord Commissioners, delivered Her Majesty's Most Gracious Speech to both Houses of Parliament, in pursuance of Her Majesty's Command. For greater accuracy, I have obtained a copy and also directed that the terms of the speech be printed in the Votes and Proceedings. Copies are being made available in the Vote Office.
The Gracious Speech was as follows:
My Lords and Members of the House of Commons The Duke of Edinburgh and I were pleased to receive the State Visits of His Excellency the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Mrs. Babangida in May and His Highness the President of the United Arab Emirates in July. We were pleased to receive the visit in June of Her Majesty The Queen of the Netherlands and His Royal Highness Prince Claus of the Netherlands to mark the conclusion of the William and Mary Tercentenary. We were also pleased to receive His Excellency the General Secretary and President of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Mrs. Gorbachev in April, and the President of the United States of America and Mrs. Bush in June.
We recall with pleasure our visit to Barbados in March to mark the 350th Anniversary of the House of Assembly there, We remember with satisfaction our State Visits last month to Singapore and Malaysia, where I was also present on the occasion of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
My Government have continued to play an active role in the important improvement which has taken place in relations between East and West, and particularly in the negotiations which led to the successful conclusion of the Vienna Review Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe.
My Government have welcomed and encouraged the significant and liberalising changes which have taken place in Poland and Hungary, and in the Soviet Union.
My Government have continued to improve the United Kingdom's defences. They have played a full part in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, and have promoted United Kingdom and Western security interests outside the NATO area.
My Government have continued to work for the achievement of balanced and verifiable arms control agreements. They have played a full part in the Vienna negotiations on reducing conventional forces in Europe and in the talks in Geneva on the abolition of chemical weapons. They have continued to co-operate with the United States over the removal of cruise missiles from the United Kingdom under the terms of the treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union on intermediate range nuclear forces.
My Government have continued to play a full and active role in progress towards the completion of the European Community's single market, and have encouraged business to prepare for the opportunities and challenges that this presents. They have, with our European Community partners, reaffirmed their commitment to the progressive realisation of economic and monetary union, and agreed that its first stage should begin on 1 July 1990. They have, with our European Community partners, established a Court of
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