§ SIR HOWARD VINCENT (Sheffield, Central)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury if he will, with a view to promoting the personal convenience and comfort of Ministers and Members, and without interference with the public service, take into consideration a proposal for fixing the hour for the meeting of the House for half-past two instead of two o'clock on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and for the termination of Questions for 3.25 instead of 2.55.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI think the reduction in the number of Questions would make it possible to enable the House to meet at a quarter-past two, instead of two o'clock. [Cries of "Half-past."] I do not think it would be right to alter the rule under which public business begins at three o'clock. That block of time is really essential, in my judgment, to the proper working of the legislative machinery. Of course the change to a quarter-past two could not be made without an alteration of the Standing Order, and at the present moment I am not in a position to find time for that alteration.
§ SIR HOWARD VINCENTIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that during the whole of this session Questions have never taken more than twenty minutes?
§ MR. LOUGH (Islington, W.)Would not ten minutes be sufficient now for the preliminary business?