Business of the House - Motion on Standing Orders

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords am 3:21 pm ar 5 Medi 2023.

Danfonwch hysbysiad imi am ddadleuon fel hyn

Photo of Lord Grocott Lord Grocott Llafur 3:21, 5 Medi 2023

My Lords, is this the right occasion—if it is not, I am still going to raise it—to consider what a sensible time is for the House to sit? It is not a choice, as it is frequently presented, that the sensible time for us to start on a Wednesday, for example, is 3 o’clock in the afternoon and then we can sit till midnight or thereafter, when the whole quality of debate, the capacity of Members to make a decent contribution and the number willing to do so diminish, and then, out of the blue, when it is convenient to the Government—I fully understand why—we have to start early on certain days on this short-term basis. It seems to me that no serious disadvantage would occur if we regularly started earlier and finished earlier. Is it not time that we made some changes in this direction?