§ Mr. SpeakerBefore I call the Secretary of State for Employment to make his statement, I have a brief statement to make to the House.
I am deeply grateful to those hon. Members who last night co-operated by making brief speeches, thus enabling others to speak in the debate. I am also grateful to the spokesman for the official Opposition for the brief time that he took on the Front Bench.
The House knows that I keep a record of the number of times that hon. Members speak and of the length of their speeches. I have decided not to keep a record of speeches that take less than eight minutes.