§ Lord HeskethMy Lords, after the short debate on the Government's legislative performance and before the short debate on the increasing number of mortgage repossessions my noble friend the Leader of the House will, with the leave of the House, repeat a Statement that is to be made in another place on Maastricht.
It may also be of use if I say a word about this afternoon's debates standing in the names of the noble Lord, Lord Jenkins of Hillhead, and the noble Lord, Lord Ross of Newport. As the mover is allowed 15 minutes and the Minister should rise to reply not less than 20 minutes before the scheduled end of the debate, in the case of the debate in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Jenkins of Hillhead, it means that all other speeches should be limited to a maximum of 10 minutes. If any noble Lord should speak at greater length, he would do so at the expense of subsequent speakers in the debate. In the case of the debate in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Ross of Newport, the number of speakers is such that it is not necessary to propose a formal time limit; but I am sure that noble Lords will agree that it would conform with the spirit of the short debates if they would keep their speeches within the 15 minutes which apply to the mover of the Motion.
I am sure that many noble Lords have noted that the digital instrumentation of your Lordships' House is non-operative at this moment. Therefore I suggest to your Lordships that you will have to rely on our old 740 and faithful analogue counterpart which rests above your Lordships' Chamber at the far end above the Bar and hope that that will provide an adequate, if mechanical response to the digital arrangements that are normally at your Lordships' disposal.