§ 47. Sir HARRY BRITTAINasked the Prime Minister whether, in view of the amount of time taken up by certain Members of this House in the delivery of their speeches and for the purpose of increasing interest in debate, he can see 553 his way to arrange for a short discussion on the subject of the limitation of the length of speeches at an early date?
§ The PRIME MINISTERI am afraid that it is impossible for the Government to spare the time asked for, but, if the desire for such a discussion be general, there should be no difficulty in finding the occasion.
§ Sir H. BRITTAINIs my right hon. Friend aware that the greatest municipal body in the world, the London County Council, limits speeches to 15 minutes, and finds that the practice works exceedingly well?
§ Mr. HANNONBefore my right hon. Friend replies, may I ask whether it would be possible to make some arrangement whereby, on private Members' evenings and on Fridays, speeches generally would be limited, say, to 10 minutes, giving the Mover of a Motion and the Opposer a reasonable amount of time, and, of course, Ministers, because, if I may say so with respect, a large amount of time is wasted at the expense of other Members?
§ Mr. SPEAKERThis question only asks for facilities for discussion; we must not enter into the merits.