I thank the hon. Gentleman for that, but that is a little play with words. We are talking about serious issues—not just to do with democracy and the House, but the issues in the Bill. I really do not see that an extra 12, 13 or 14 minutes spent on a Division will make that much difference. One or two of my colleagues have been muttering about time wasting, and have said that the longer we go on for, the less time there is for debate. I am fed up with that attitude; it is almost blackmailing, if I can use that word, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is blackmailing, almost implying it is our fault that we will not have a great debate, because we are all talking about the guillotine motion. The Secretary of State and the Government should have understood that it would cause problems if they sought to get a guillotine motion passed so that they could get the whole Bill through the House in one day. They should have understood that a lot of people would want to make their views known. Unless we all speak for just 10 seconds, that will inevitably take time. Moreover, as the debate proceeds, those who may not have intended to speak are more likely to wish to do so, and we will end up with a very short time indeed.
Northern Ireland Bill (Allocation of Time)
Proceeding contribution from
Baroness Hoey
(Labour)
in the House of Commons on Wednesday, 4 March 2009.
It occurred during Debate on bills
and
Committee of the Whole House (HC) on Northern Ireland Bill.
About this proceeding contribution
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2008-09Chamber / Committee
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