§ Sir Herbert WilliamsMay I ask for your guidance, Mr. Speaker, in a matter which interests a large number of hon. Members. Since the new Order was passed affecting the Adjournment on days when the Standing Order (Sittings of the House) has been carried, there has been uncertainty as to whether the period of half-an-hour is reckoned from the termination of opposed Business or from the termination of Government Business; and on occasions that may involve a difference of as much as 10 minutes.
§ Mr. SpeakerI am obliged to the hon. Member for raising this question, because I was given notice the other day that there was a little lack of knowledge on the subject. The half-hour starts from the time when the Business for which we have suspended the Rule ends. Sometimes there may be a little Business after that, which will come out of the half-hour For instance, the other evening 552 the Business for which the Rule was suspended ended at three minutes to the hour, and the Minister concerned was somewhat alarmed, because he had his peroration to make, when I stopped him at three minutes before the half-hour. That was correct. We should remember that the half-hour starts when the Business ends for which the Rule has been suspended, but out of that half-hour may come time for some other Government Business, when the half hour will end not at 30 minutes past but at 10 or 20 past or 27 minutes past, depending entirely on the time at which the Government Business for which the Rule had been specially suspended ended. I hope I have made the position clear.