§ MR. HEYWOOD JOHNSTONE (Sussex, Horsham)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury if he will consider the advisability of amending the Standing Orders of the House so that the Twelve o'clock Rule shall not apply when the Orders of the Day are not reached within a definite period after the Speaker has taken the Chair.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURA question was put last week on this subject and postponed at my request. Difficulties have arisen this session and in previous sessions through the unexpected prolongation of private business, and I shall have no objection to the appointment of a Committee to examine the point.
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLWould it not be better to do away with the rule altogether, seeing it has to be so frequently suspended?