Business of the House

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Thursday 8th December 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Strathclyde]

That Standing Order 40(1) (Arrangement of the Order Paper) be dispensed with on Tuesday 13 December and Monday 19 December to enable proceedings on the Health and Social Care Bill to take place before oral questions.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock]

My Lords, will the Leader of the House confirm that this Motion has been tabled after an agreement through the usual channels and that no such Motion would ever have been tabled without such agreement?

[The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Lord Strathclyde)]

Yes, my Lords. I can actually go a bit further and say that relations in the usual channels between the Opposition and the Government are extremely cordial at the moment—and long may that continue, because that is the normal course of events. Certainly I cannot imagine the circumstances in which a Motion like this would be put down without the agreement of the usual channels.