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Racial and Religious Hatred Bill

My Lords, I hope that subsequent speakers will not take the six-minute time limit seriously. This is a Second Reading, where we have in this House no time limits, and it is terribly important that that remains the case. The Chief Whip was quite right to point out that if we all speak for six minutes we shall rise at 10 pm. Those who choose to speak for longer may therefore think that they are trespassing on the patience of the House. In that case, they had better be making interesting speeches, or the House will cease to listen—but those who are doing so should not feel the slightest qualms about speaking for longer than six minutes. Those who have something worth saying should not curtail their speeches.