Arrangement of Business

Lord Dholakia Excerpts

Tuesday 29th October 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Basildon]

My Lords, it is not for me to advise noble Lords on how long they wish to speak. I was not trying to correct the noble Lord. The point I made is that many noble Lords have spent a long time preparing their comments on a very important Bill and will be disappointed that Second Reading started at this late hour. If there were a normal amount of time, even 10 minutes for each speech would take us beyond midnight. I am not asking for a change to the guidance but want to put on record that it is difficult for noble Lords who have prepared speeches on such an important issue. However, I do not wish to detain the House.

[Lord Dholakia (LD)]

My Lords, I endorse what the noble Baroness said. It has taken a lot of time to prepare our contributions and I hope that the Minister understands that this is an advisory limit.

[Lord Popat]

I accept what my noble friend said, but I ask that noble Lords try to keep contributions to a maximum of six or seven minutes. That would help Peers who would like to go home earlier than 10.30 pm.