§ Lord DenhamMy Lords, at a convenient moment after 3.30 this afternoon, my noble friend Lord Trefgarne will, with the leave of the House, repeat a Statement that is to be made in another place on the Lebanon.
With the leave of the House, I should like in the normal way to say a brief word about the timing of the two short debates standing in the names of the noble Baroness, Lady Ewart-Biggs, and the noble Lord, Lord Pitt of Hampstead, this afternoon. Following the principle that the mover shall be entitled to approximately 15 minutes and that the Minister should rise to reply not later than 20 minutes before the scheduled end of the debate, may I suggest that other speakers in today's debates should limit their speeches to a maximum of nine minutes as regards the debate of the noble Baroness, Lady Ewart-Biggs, and 12 minutes as regards the debate of the noble Lord, Lord Pitt of Hampstead. Perhaps I should point out that, if any noble Lords should speak at greater length than the suggested times in either of these debates, they will do so only at the expense of later speakers in that debate.