§ MR. JOHN MORLEY (Montrose Burghs)May I ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether, in the event of Vote 1 of the ordinary Navy Estimates not being reached until midnight, he proposes to take it after that hour?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURYYes, Sir. It is partly due to the necessity for getting Vote 1 to-night that I am going to ask for the suspension of the 12 o'clock rule. ["Hear!"]
§ MR. J. MORLEYWill to-day be included in the computation of 20 days which the right hon. Gentleman proposes to devote to the consideration, of the Estimates?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURYNo, Sir; neither to-day nor last Monday. We practically devoted nearly the whole of last Monday 784 to the consideration of the Navy Estimates, but in consequence of my having put down a Bill first on that day it will not count as one of the 20. The first orders to-night are Supplementary Estimates, and they are deliberately excluded from the purview of the new rules. The House will remember that last Friday there was a great deal of time taken up by a private Bill, and I therefore deliberately put down a small Bill on the paper on Monday so as to make up for the time lost to Supply on the preceding Friday.