§ Mr. AustinMay I raise a House of Commons matter with your permission, Mr. Speaker, and bring to the notice of my right hon. Friend the Lord President a matter that is exercising the minds of hon. Members on both sides of the House?
It is within the knowledge of the House that when an hon. Member is fortunate enough to catch your eye, Sir, he is then enabled by the procedure of the House to speak as long as discretion allows him. It is evident that hon. Members have been indiscreet in speaking for too long, thus depriving other hon. Members of the right to speak. In addition, there is a certain amount of feeling about the number of Front Bench speakers and the time they take. Then, with the greatest respect to the Chair, Sir, there is the point that hon. Members of the House are subjected, because of the difficulty of invoking the Rule, to wearisome repetition.
May I point out to my right hon. Friend that there is amongst a certain section of hon. Members in the House a self-denying ordinance to limit themselves to about 15 minutes or so? In view of those circumstances, may I ask my right hon. Friend whether, in consultation with yourself, Sir, he would consider the appointment of a small committee to look into these questions and report any appropriate findings to the House?
§ Mr. H. MorrisonI appreciate the point put by my hon. Friend but it was actually considered by the Select Committee on Procedure, and on balance they did not see their way to approve it. I think we all value the possibility of short speeches, even if we do not all make them, and I have no doubt that the point will be present in the minds of hon. Members in view of what my hon. Friend has said. However, I have a feeling that it would cramp the style of Parliamentary Debate if we introduced an absolute time limit.