---

Sittings of the House

I do not know whether this will encourage my right hon. Friend to vote for my amendment, but I would be here on each of those Fridays. I thought that my right hon. Friend might be about to mention the suggestion in the "Rebuilding the House" report that we should have sittings to discuss private Members' Bills on Wednesdays. I have already said that I would not press my amendment to a vote if the Deputy Leader of the House, who has now had time to consider that offer, were to suggest that we should keep the Fridays listed in the Government motion and add five Wednesdays, which would bring more people to the debates. I would be more than happy not to press my amendment to a vote in those circumstances, and I wonder whether she would like to intervene to give me her view on that. So far, the Government have only said, "I beg to move".