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Business of the House (Lisbon Treaty)

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. The time available for hon. Members to advance and then vote on their views was not two or three times greater, as it may appear at first sight, but dramatically greater than what the Government are proposing now. The Government propose only 12 days for Committee and all other stages on the Floor of the House. If we add to that last Monday’s Second Reading debate, which was reduced to less than five hours because of the need for two Government statements on chaotic aspects of their administration of the country’s affairs, and today’s debate on the procedure to be employed and the time to be allocated, we reach a total of 14 days. Even leaving aside the Government’s previous spin that there would be 20 days of debate and the statement in the House by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport that there would be 15 days’ debate, the scale of what is proposed, the breadth of the matters to be discussed and the controversy that is likely to be generated in many areas all mean that 12 days of six-hour debates do not constitute the detailed discussion and consideration with great precision to which the Prime Minister pledged the Government.