§ 3.28 p.m.
§ EARL ST. ALDWYN rose to move, That the Amendments to Standing Order 48 and Standing Order 50, agreed on May 12 last, be continued in force until the Christmas Recess in the next Session of Parliament; and to move the following Amendments thereto—
§ Standing Order No. 48
§ Paragraph (3), line 1, leave out (" two ") and insert (" three ");
§ Paragraph (4), line 1, leave out (" two ") and insert (" three ");
§ Paragraph (4A), line 1, leave out (" two ") and insert (" three ").
§ The noble Earl said: My Lords, on behalf of my noble friend the Leader of the House, I beg to move the Motion standing in his name on the Order Paper. The noble Lord the Leader of the Opposition, has in fact made my speech on this point and therefore I shall not make it. But I would make one point. I hope the House will agree to this change from two minutes to three minutes. We have had a very large number of Divisions this Summer, and the House has become almost professional in the way it divides. But we have not had any Divisions of what I might call an amateur kind, called by an individual Back-Bencher. To expect him to find a second Teller and get those two names recorded at the Table in two minutes is, I think, asking rather a lot. It can be done by those of us who are doing it regularly, but for somebody who is not familiar with the procedure I think it is too short a time. So I hope that the House will agree to the three-minute rule.
§ Moved, That the Amendments to Standing Order 48 and Standing Order 50, agreed on May 12 last, be continued in force until the Christmas Recess in the next Session of Parliament; and to move the following Amendments thereto:—
§ Standing Order No. 48
§ Paragraph (3), line 1, leave out (" two ") and insert (" three ");
§ Paragraph (4), line 1, leave out (" two ") and insert (" three ");
628§ Paragraph (4A), line 1, leave out (" two ") and insert (" three ").—(Earl St. Aldwyn.)
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.