Baroness Anelay of St Johns
That the debate on the Motion in the name of Baroness Stowell of Beeston set down for today shall be limited to four hours and that in the name of Lord Wallace of Saltaire to two hours.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
My Lords, I beg to move the Motion in the name of my noble friend Lord Hill of Oareford. The Motion relates to the debates today, and perhaps I may refer to each debate separately.
I refer first to the debate which celebrates International Women’s Day. I regret that on the notice that has gone round to all Peers, there is a printing error at the very end about speaking times. For Back-Benchers, I promise that it makes no difference whatever. I hope that the House will agree that the changes are all to the good because they give the Front-Benchers more time. My noble friend Lady Stowell of Beeston will now have 20 minutes instead of 15 for opening. She may not need to take it all; we will see. The noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, will now have 12 minutes instead of 10 when she winds for the opposition Front Bench. I am sure that she will need all that time; she is expert on these matters. My noble friend Lady Northover is now permitted 25 minutes instead of 20.
I also have what I hope may be welcome news with regard to the second debate. We tried to give as much notice as possible so that Back-Bench speakers could prepare their speeches to the full, and we gave notice that Back-Benchers would have five minutes. Yesterday, however, there was a sudden flurry of interest and names were added to the list. I now beg the leave of the House to make a manuscript amendment, in a sense, to my own Leader’s Motion, so that the second debate should run for two and a half hours, not two. This means that we can keep our promise to Back-Benchers that all Back-Bench speeches will remain at five minutes per person. It makes no difference to the Front Benches throughout, but it means that we can keep the promise to Back-Benchers of five minutes for their speeches.