§ 3.7 p.m.
§ LORD DENHAMMy Lords, with the leave of the House, my noble friend Lord Carrington will be making a Statement on Northern Ireland at a convenient moment after 3.30 p.m.
On Friday, several noble Lords indicated that they thought it would be right for the House to have an early opportunity of debating the industrial situation. In what was then an interim Statement that I made to the House later that day, I said that the usual channels would certainly consider these representations to see whether a debate could be arranged in the near future. It has now been agreed through the usual channels that we should hold a reasonably short debate immediately after the Second Reading of the Local Government Bill has been concluded tomorrow. It is my hope and, I think, that of the usual channels, that this debate should start no later than 7 o'clock. I therefore propose to the House that we should meet tomorrow at 2 o'clock. This also means that we must limit the number of speakers in the second day of the debate on the Local Government Bill. I hope that the list will be reasonably short and also that the speeches may be kept reasonably short during tomorrow's debate. In this way we may be able to begin the emergency debate on the industrial situation at 7 o'clock. I am afraid that that means we are faced tonight with a very long list of speakers.
Perhaps I might have the indulgence of the House to mention one further point. Lunches and dinners will be available as usual this week and next, but, as many of your Lordships will know, the building operations concerned with the Dining Room extensions have already begun, and from now on lunch and dinner will be served in the Cholmondeley Room. This also means that no guests can be accommodated for lunch or dinner.