§ 3.2 p.m.
§ Lord DenhamMy Lords, at a convenient moment after 3.30 this afternoon, my noble friend Lady Young will, with the leave of the House, repeat in the form of a Statement an Answer which is to be given in another place to a Private Notice Question on the recent discussions with the trade unions over GCHQ.
With the leave of the House, I should like to say a brief word about the length of speeches in this afternoon's debate standing in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Bottomley, to which your Lordships have agreed to apply a five-hour time limit. On the principle that the mover is allowed approximately 20 minutes and that the Minister should rise to reply not less than 25 minutes before the scheduled end of the debate, all other speeches could be as long as 15 minutes. If any noble Lord should speak at even greater length he would be doing so at the expense of other speakers in the debate.