HL Deb 25 March 2003 vol 646 c654
Lord Grocott

My Lords, before we start the Second Reading debate on the Communications Bill, perhaps I may mention to the House the usual arithmetic on the subject. It is a Second Reading so there are no time limits. There are, however, 49 speakers on the list of speakers. For the debate on Iraq a week ago there was a suggested time of eight minutes per speech. If we were to apply that today, the House would rise around 10.30 p.m. Obviously, every extra minute that each speaker takes adds around 45 minutes to that time. I shall leave the rest of the arithmetic to your Lordships.