§ 3.6 p.m.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR COMMONWEALTH RELATIONS (VISCOUNT SWINTON)My Lords, before the debate begins, I should like, with your Lordships' permission, to make a statement about the Business for next week. As your Lordships will have seen, a very large number of Amendments have been put down for the Committee stage of the Road Traffic Bill, which is certainly likely to occupy more than two days, particularly as we wish to find time for the Motion of the noble Lord, Lord Macdonald of Gwaenysgor, on air pollution, which I should not like to displace from its position. I understand that that Motion is not likely to take very long.
I would therefore propose that we should take the Committee stage of the Road Traffic Bill on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I suggest that on Tuesday and Wednesday the House should sit till about seven o'clock. We must finish the Committee stage on Thursday, and therefore I would ask the House to meet as usual, at three o'clock, and to sit on on that day until the Committee stage is completed. In order to lighten our programme on Thursday, I would propose that we should postpone the Report stage of the Oil in Navigable Waters Bill and the Second Reading of the Cocos Islands Bill, which are down for Thursday, until Tuesday, the 22nd, in the following week. I will place the necessary Motion on the Order Paper to enable that to be done. I have had some talks through the usual channels and I think those changes will meet the general convenience of the House.