BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE. (Hansard, 13 February 1918)

§ Mr. BONAR LAW
I beg to move,
"That, until the House otherwise determines, and so far as the House does not otherwise determine, on every day on which the House sits— 108
(1) Government Business do have precedence;

(2) At the conclusion of Government Business Mr. Speaker shall propose the Question, That this House do now adjourn, and, if that Question shall not have been agreed to. Mr. Speaker shall adjourn the House without Question put not later than one hour after the conclusion of Government Business. if that Business has been concluded before 10.30 p.m., but, if that Business has not been so concluded, not later than 11.30 p.m.;

(3) If the day be a Thursday the House shall at its rising stand adjourned until the following Monday;

(4) Any Private Business set down for consideration at a Quarter-past Eight o'clock on any day shall, if Government Business is concluded before that time, be taken at the conclusion of Government Business and, for the purposes of the preceding provisions of this Order, shall be deemed to be Government Business;

(5) All Select Committees, including Committees on Private Bills, shall have power to sit on Friday, and, if the House adjourns from Thursday or Friday till the following Tuesday, on Monday, notwithstanding the Adjournment of the House;

(6) Whenever the House adjourns from Thursday to the following Monday or Tuesday, Members desiring to give Notice of Questions for Oral Answer on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday may send Notices of such Questions to the Clerks at the Table, and any Notices of Questions so received by them before Five of the clock on a Friday or Monday shall be accepted as Notices of Questions for Oral Answer on the following Monday and Tuesday, or Wednesday, respectively, and be printed and circulated with the Votes

(7) Whenever the House adjourns from Thursday to the following Monday or Tuesday, Members desiring to give notice of new Clauses and Amendments to Bills or of Amendments to Motions may send such Notices to the Clerks at the Table, and any such Notices received by them before Five of the clock on a Friday or Monday shall be printed and circulated with the Votes."

§ Mr. LOUGH
I recognise that in Sections (6) and (7) useful Amendments 109 have been introduced since the proposal was first put before the House, but I want to call attention to No. (4), where a slight modification might be introduced. In No. (4) we deal with private business and we arrange that where private business is fixed to come on at 8.15, if Government business is terminated before that hour, the private business may be taken at once. I think that Motion might be extended so as to cover Motions under Standing Order 10. When a Motion for the Adjournment of the House to discuss a definite matter of urgent public importance has been carried we might have the difficulty we had in previous Sessions of waiting and trying to keep a House till 8.15 when the Government business does not last so long, and I think, therefore, the Rule might be amended so as to cover Motions under Standing Order 10. I should be prepared to move an Amendment to that effect unless the right hon. Gentleman prefers to put it in his own words.

§ Mr. BONAR LAW
I think that is a perfectly reasonable Amendment, which I am ready to adopt. It is purely an accident that it was omitted. It is obviously very undesirable either that hon. Members should be driven to the necessity of keeping the House going till 8.15 or that the Government should try to get rid of the Motion by an earlier Adjournment. My right hon. Friend will draft suitable words.

§ Mr. WHITEHOUSE
Inconvenience has been caused to Members of the House in past Sessions through the fact that there is no Adjournment discussion possible on Fridays. Such a discussion used to be possible for half an hour, but the Motion seems so drawn as to prevent it. Urgent questions sometimes occur which require discussion on Fridays, and I should be very glad if the right hon. Gentleman would so amend the Order as to enable such a discussion to take place.

§ Mr. BONAR LAW
I really feel quite certain that the House, as a whole, would not desire that. Friday is not a suitable opportunity for such a discussion. I really cannot agree.

§ Mr. KING
There are occasions on which an Adjournment Motion, or something equivalent to it, on Friday is desirable. I believe the Government can meet the wishes of Members on such occasions by moving the Adjournment before the last Order is reached, and if the Leader 110 of the House would bear that in mind on suitable occasions it would really meet my hon. Friend's point.

§ Mr. BONAR LAW
I think that has been done on important occasions, and we should be ready to do it again.