§ Lord GrocottMy Lords, as we are about to start the Second Reading of the Housing Bill, perhaps I may say a few words about timing. As your Lordships know, the normal rising time on a Monday is about 10 o'clock; I fear that we are unlikely to hit that this evening. But we would not do too badly if Back-Bench contributions were restricted to eight minutes and the Front Benchers were to use their customary brevity and incisiveness.
We should then manage to complete our proceedings within three hours, which is not too badly past the target rising time, considering that we have had a Statement and that we took rather longer than anticipated to deal with the immigration Bill. I repeat: eight minutes, my Lords.