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Liverpool City Council (Prohibition of Smoking in Places of Work) Bill [HL]

My Lords, as the House will recall, I suggested at the conclusion of Starred Questions today that if we were to finish in time for 11 o’clock, which is an hour past our advisory time—we need to finish at 11 o’clock because of the rules of the House relating to the staff tomorrow—the House would need to agree to a six-minute time for Back-Bench speeches. The last contribution took 14 minutes. I need hardly tell the House that, should the other speeches follow at that length, it would take us until about midnight, in my rough paper calculations. Of course, we are a self-regulating House. I can only say that when I advised a limit of six minutes, which is all that it is in my power to do, it seemed to be responded to nearly unanimously. At least, no one leapt up then and objected. So I urge the House in its fine tradition of self-regulation to try to stick to six minutes, otherwise we will really be causing difficulties.