Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)
My Lords, before we resume the debate on the King’s Speech, I thought it would be helpful to the House to remind all Back-Bench speakers that the advisory speaking time today is five minutes. That means that when the clock has reached four minutes, noble Lords should start making their concluding remarks, and when the clock hits five minutes, their time is up.
We have a long day ahead of us and the expected rising time is 11 pm. If every Back Bench speaker spoke for an additional 30 seconds, the estimated rising time would move to 11.40 pm. I ask all noble Lords to please stick to the advisory time. I have asked the Whips on the Government Bench, if necessary, to remind Members not to go over the allotted time.
Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Con)
Further to the point made by the Chief Whip, what effect does he think the Labour Party’s manifesto proposal to increase participation rates in the House will have on the length of speeches?
Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)
I thought that the manifesto proposal was to ensure participation, not to increase participation.