HL Deb 20 May 1992 vol 537 c606
Lord Hesketh

My Lords, with the leave of the House I should like to say a word about the length of speeches in today's debate which stands in the name of the noble Lord, Lord McIntosh of Haringey, to which your Lordships have agreed to apply a five-hour time limit. As your Lordships know, this Motion is to be debated together with that standing in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Ezra. On the principle that the mover is allowed 20 minutes and that the Minister should rise to reply not less than 25 minutes before the scheduled end of the debate, the noble Lord, Lord Ezra, should be allowed 15 minutes and all other speeches should not exceed 10 minutes. If any noble Lord should speak for a greater length of time than that, he or she would be doing so at the expense of other speakers in the debate.