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Business of the House (Lisbon Treaty)

There is room for flexibility on the balance of time in each of the debates; I certainly would not deny the hon. Gentleman the justice of that. It is possible, and I shall try to explain how it might come about. The hon. Member for Stone (Mr. Cash) quoted ““Erskine May”” at length. Long ago, Governments began to evolve programmes of business in response to public need and, increasingly, to democratic pressure. As the process developed, questions of balance between business and time—the commonplace of modern procedure—became acute as never before. Thomas Erskine May’s fertile, if cautious, procedural imagination was there to help him to find solutions. He said that organisation was not less essential in a senate than in a factory. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman, who quoted May at great length, will agree that he should come to terms with that piece of wisdom.