§ 35. Mr. Carterasked the Lord President of the Council if he will seek to have the Prime Minister's period of Question Time extended from 15 minutes to 30 minutes.
§ The Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. William Whitelaw)No, Sir.
§ Mr. CarterI thank the Leader of the House for that extremely detailed reply. Does the right hon. Gentleman appreciate that back benchers will be extremely disappointed with his reply—[HON. MEMBERS: "No."] I speak for myself—as many of us have tabled large numbers of Questions? I have tabled a large number of Questions to the Prime Minister which he has transferred to other Ministers, possibly because he does not want to reply to them. Does the Leader of the House agree that a longer period at Question Time would make it possible for back benchers to put more Questions to the Prime Minister?
§ Mr. WhitelawI am sure that the hon. Gentleman appreciates that since my right hon. Friend became Prime Minister he has answered substantially more Questions than were answered by his predecessor.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterWhile appreciating the enthusiasm of the hon. Member for Birmingham, Northfield (Mr. Carter) for listening to the Prime Minister at much greater length, may I ask my right hon. Friend whether experience in this Parliament justifies the recommendation of the Select Committee on Procedure in the last Parliament for a modest increase in the time available for Questions generally by bringing Question Hour up to a full hour?
§ Mr. WhitelawI have promised the House that I will shortly bring forward proposals following that Report about the future of Question Time. That I will do.