Lord Taylor of Holbeach (Con)
My Lords, with the leave of the House, I should like to say a couple of things before we start our debate today. The first is to thank all those who have made possible our assembling here today at short notice on recall. We are well served by all who support us here in this House, and their professionalism is manifest by the way we are all able to be here today. I should like to record our thanks to them.
Secondly, turning to today’s debate, there are 58 speakers, and there may well have been more. A number of people decided, as a result of the large number of speakers, to withdraw their names, enabling others to speak for longer. As it is, with 58 speakers, if contributions are limited to four minutes each, we would expect to rise by 4.30 pm. This would allow the House to make its contribution to the debate before the House of Commons votes on its Motion, which is expected to be at about 5 pm.
I remind noble Lords that the clocks are set at zero when they rise, and when the clock shows four, four full minutes will have elapsed so, my Lords, your time is up. Thank you.