Lord Deben
Main Page: Lord Deben (Conservative - Life peer)I am very happy to discuss that further with the noble Baroness next week and with the usual channels, but up to now, of course, PMBs have been dealt with on Fridays. I think all my colleagues in the usual channels want to keep to that—I certainly do—but I am very happy to have that discussion next week to find another way forward to do what the House wants, which is to find more time for this Bill. We will see if we can do that, but I am very happy to have that discussion next week.
My Lords, I want to raise the concern of Jewish Members of the House, who are in a particular difficulty on Fridays. Perhaps it is better for somebody who is not Jewish to put that forward and ask if the noble Lord can look at that very carefully.
I thank the noble Lord for his point. I genuinely understand that; I am very conscious of that. I do not wish to cause any Member who is Jewish, or of any other faith, distress, inconvenience or problems in their faith by sitting beyond 3 pm. It is why I suggested that people could leave without hearing the debates, but that may not be acceptable to some colleagues. I am aware of that. I will discuss what else we can do, but I apologise. It is not my intention to cause noble Lords who are Jewish distress or problems with their faith.