HL Deb 12 March 2001 vol 623 c516
Lord Carter

My Lords, before we move to the Second Reading of the Hunting Bill, it may be for the convenience of the House if I say a few words about time. Today's debate on the Hunting Bill is not time limited. It is, as always, open to noble Lords to speak for as long as they think appropriate. However, as I always do, I have made a calculation. I thought that the House might be interested to hear the result. If each of the Front Bench spokesmen were voluntarily to limit their speeches to about 12 minutes, and if the Back-Bench speakers were voluntarily to limit themselves to about seven minutes, there is a chance that we will finish the debate at a reasonable time, and even perhaps on the same day that we started.

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