HC Deb 26 August 1907 vol 182 cc146-7
MR. WALKER

To ask the Prime Minister whether, in order that there may be an official record of the time spent by this House upon the various matters that are brought before it, he will arrange that, from the beginning of next session, the official Report shall mark the point reached at each half hour, as is done in the Parliamentary proceedings published by The Times) newspaper.

(Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman:) There is no difficulty in marking the point reached at each half hour in the Report of Debates, But this could not be done in the special Report of proceedings. Hours may, and often do, elapse between one entry and the next. Moreover, in the case of amendments, there is often only a general entry "Amendments made." Indeed, the whole system of recording the proceedings is inconsistent with the suggestion made.