§ Lord CarterMy Lords, perhaps I should say a word about how the Government intend to handle the debate this afternoon. These are unusual circumstances. As I informed the House this morning, the proceedings will not exactly follow those on a normal Statement. The purpose of that variation from our normal proceedings is to allow noble Lords more flexibility in taking part in debate.
In view of this and the fact that the Statement in another place is being followed by a debate in which Ministers from the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence will take part, my noble friend the Leader of the House will begin proceedings by repeating the Statement that is being made in another place. The Front Benchers will then speak in the usual way. My noble friend the Leader of the House will then open the debate by responding to the Front Bench speeches.
It is then proposed that any Back-Bencher who wishes to speak should do so, we hope with reasonable brevity. Then there should be a single wind-up speech from the Government Benches at the end of the Back-Bench contributions. My noble friend Lord Gilbert will respond to the debate.
I hope that the House will agree that this way of proceeding will reflect the desire of the House, expressed through the usual channels, that proceedings this afternoon should not be confined to those for a Statement but should reflect more closely those for a debate.
I should also add that allowing my noble friend Lord Gilbert to wind up in a single speech rather than intervening immediately on points from Back-Benchers will, perhaps, contribute to the feeling that this is more of a debate than a normal Statement.