HL Deb 22 February 1999 vol 597 cc840-1
Lord Carter

My Lords, in view of the long list of speakers for the debate which is scheduled to take place this afternoon and tomorrow on the White Paper on reform of your Lordships' House I thought it might be helpful to indicate to the House the result of discussions through the usual channels. While the debate is, of course, not time-limited, if the average time that is taken by each of the Back-Bench speakers is eight minutes, the debate would last about 14 hours in total. This would mean we conclude at a reasonable hour on each of the two evenings. As a second day has been granted for the debate I am sure it is in the interests of all your Lordships who will be present throughout the two days for proceedings not to be unduly extended.