Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab Co-op)
My Lords, before we proceed to Questions, I want to point out to the House that we have only three Questions today, not four. The noble Lord, Lord Balfe, was successful in the ballot on Monday for the Wednesday Topical Question. At 5 pm yesterday, he decided to withdraw his Question as he was not able to be in the House today, and he decided that he did not want another Member of the House to ask the Question on his behalf. That was his decision, but with less than 24 hours before the Question was due to be asked, there was no time to fill the slot. The Companion is clear, though, and each Question is still allotted 10 minutes, so Question Time today is 30 minutes, not 40.
While I am on my feet, I again remind everyone asking questions today to ensure that they are short, sharp, succinct and to the point, which is what the House wants and expects. Replies from our ministerial colleagues should also be short, sharp, succinct and to the point.