Modernisation of the House of Commons

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 2:39 pm on 26 January 2005.

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Photo of Julian Lewis Julian Lewis Shadow Minister (Cabinet Office) 2:39, 26 January 2005

As for people being jaded and tired when important votes are taking place, I put a serious point to the hon. Gentleman. With the previous hours, and those that we still have on Mondays, the main speeches of the debate—the opening speeches, in which the main cases for and against the motion are stated—happened at a time when people were relatively fresh, and they did not clash with the hours when people would normally be having lunch. Also, people had dinner at a stage of the debate when there were only a small number of people in the Chamber—those who were waiting to speak. With the new hours, people have to choose constantly between starvation and participation at lunchtime, which does not improve their judgment. In addition, does the hon. Gentleman have any hard data on whether the electorate even know what hours we keep and what hours we stop? I do not think they have the faintest idea.