Speeches by Gale.

“We now come, slightly earlier than anticipated, to the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.”

“Order. To make it easier for Members, I have asked that the clock count down, rather than up, so it is easier to work out how much time you have left. You can now see that very clearly indeed.”

“Order. I suspended the sitting until 11 o’clock but, with the mover of the motion and the Minister present, I see no reason not to start. I will call Richard Foord to move the motion and then the Minister to respond. As is always the case with 30-minute debates, there is no opportunity for the Member in charge to wind …”

“May I take this opportunity to wish all colleagues present a happy new year?”

“In his statement, the Minister referred to the undermining of the capacity of our great towns and cities to realise their economic potential. Does he not realise that by effectively absolving the Mayor of London of his housing responsibilities, he is exacerbating the problem of inner-London boroughs, such as Lewisham a…”

“I remind hon. Members that, this being a half-hour debate, there will be no opportunity for the Member in charge to wind up.”

“Order. We have 13 Members wishing to participate and about 24 minutes. I will put on an immediate time limit of two minutes. If you do the maths, you will find that that does not work. There will be a Division at around 5 o’clock, and injury time will be added on. We will see how many Members come back after the Divisi…”

“Order. I should have said—I did not, but I will now—that if any Member chooses to intervene, which they are quite entitled to do, I shall treat that as a speech, so they will not get called later in the debate.”

“Order.”

“Order.”

“Order.”

“I have consulted widely with farming communities and farmers in my constituency. I have not been able to identify a single farmer who feels that there is anything good in this policy whatsoever. Does my right hon. Friend know whether there is a single Labour Member of Parliament representing a rural community who genui…”

“On the general principle, is the Minister seriously saying that all the tax advisers advising all the farmers across the country and all the land valuers, who are qualified in a way that he is not, are wrong, and that he is right?”

“I call Dr Neil Hudson for the Opposition. You have five minutes.”

“Given that the Secretary of State’s avowed goal is to create more social housing, can she explain to the House why Labour-controlled Thanet district council is seeking to build a large housing estate on the outskirts of Birchington-on-Sea, on prime agricultural land? There is little demand for those houses, and little …”

“I agree with the hon. Lady entirely: the way forward should be through better palliative care and not through assisted suicide. The Bill does not address the needs of children. Would she recognise that we also need better palliative care for children as well as adults?”

“Members may remove their jackets if they wish to, if they are hardy or foolhardy enough.”

“Order. Interventions are interventions, not speeches. As the hon. Lady can see, there are quite a lot of Members who wish to participate in this debate. We cannot have speeches under the guise of interventions.”

“Order. We must keep an eye on the clock. [Interruption.]”

“Order. I must ask hon. Members to keep an eye on the clock.”