Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 6:24 pm on 23 June 2005.
My Lords, I intend absolutely no discourtesy to the noble Lord, Lord Oxburgh. Unfortunately, because earlier speakers took longer than the allocated time, we are now two minutes over time. I apologise most sincerely to the noble Lord and hope that in future all noble Lords in a timed debate will be as helpful as possible. My noble friend the Minister lost two minutes of his reply time because of other noble Lords speaking at length.