Speakers corner all the hits and more

The Speaker of the Commons, Betty Boothroyd, flanked by her predecessors Lord Weatherill (left) and Lord Tonypandy, at a launch party for a double CD of great vocal performances that have burned their ears over the years, writes Decca Aitkenhead.

Such parliamentary hits as The Sinking of the Belgrano by Denzil Davies, White Flags Over Port Stanley by that perennial favourite Margaret Thatcher, and Page Three Girls by Clare Short, have been compiled alongside 102 other addresses and exchanges on an EMI collection titled Great Parliamentary Speeches. They are culled from the first 16 years of parliamentary broadcasting. Fans of the obscure are also catered for, hence the inclusion of Michael Heseltine's Save The Prawns

Photograph: PA