Business of the House (Lisbon Treaty)

I am grateful to the Minister. Nobody could criticise him for his performance this afternoon—he has tried to give way whenever possible. He has been on his feet, although he has been up and down, for almost an hour and a half, so how can he tell the House with any degree of conviction that an hour and a half, or even four and a half hours, is long enough to debate important constitutional and controversial issues? He has needed his hour and a half. If we were dealing with an allocated time, no Back-Bench speeches would have been made—there would have been no speeches other than the Minister’s—and that illustrates what a tight rein the Government are placing on the House.