HL Deb 01 December 1982 vol 436 c1240
Lord Denham

My Lords, with the leave of the House, I should like in the normal way to say a brief word about the timing of the short debates this afternoon. Following the accepted principle that the mover should be entitled to approximately 15 minutes, and that the Minister should rise to reply no later than 20 minutes before the scheduled end of each debate, may I suggest that other speakers should endeavour to limit their speeches to about 11 minutes in the case of the debate in the name of my noble friend Lord Campbell of Alloway, and to about 9½ minutes in the case of the debate in the name of my noble friend Lord Polwarth. May I point out to the House that if any noble Lord were to speak longer, he would do so at the expense of other speakers later in the debate.