§ 3.14 p.m.
§ Lord DenhamMy Lords, with the leave of the House, I should like to say a word about the short 1206 debate standing in the name of the noble Lord the Leader of the Opposition, to which your Lordships have agreed to apply a five-hour time limit. It is not strictly necessary to apply a time standard this afternoon because, 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 should be limited to a strict upper limit of 18 minutes. However, if any noble Lord were to speak at greater length than that unusually generous ration, he would be doing so at the expense of later speakers, to say nothing of the rest of the House.