§ LORD PARMOORMy Lords, may I ask the noble Marquess the Leader of the House if he has any information to give to the House regarding the course of the debate this afternoon?
§ THE LORD PRIVY SEAL (THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURY)My Lords, I am very much obliged to the noble Lord for having put this question. Your Lordships have been good enough to meet an hour earlier this afternoon in order to give an opportunity to the many noble Lords who have, I am glad to say, signified their desire to take part in this discussion. But unfortunately we are still troubled by want of time. I have seen a list of the noble Lords who wish to speak. The number is certainly not less than twenty and I think it is as many as twenty-five. Your Lordships will see that if no special steps are taken, even with the advantage of an additional hour this afternoon we shall have some difficulty, amounting to an absolute impossibility, to get through the debate within the time available for us this 863 afternoon and to-morrow afternoon. I had hoped that it might be possible to act on the suggestion by a noble friend of mine and to meet at three o'clock to-morrow afternoon as well as this afternoon, but that turns out to be impossible because your Lordships are sitting judicially to-morrow. As it would be a very grave inconvenience for the judicial sitting of your Lordships to be terminated an hour earlier than usual that resource is not available. In these circumstances I am driven to the conclusion that if we are to give the opportunity to which they are fully entitled to noble Lords to speak on this very important matter there is no resource open to us except to meet this evening after dinner. Therefore, unless within the next half hour I hear reasons why some other course should be pursued, I shall assume that that is accepted and that we shall adjourn for dinner somewhere near eight o'clock for an hour in order to complete as many speeches on the subject as possible to-night.