Graham Stringer

Order. I remind hon. Members that interventions should be short and to the point. We have had two quite lengthy interventions. The business is not oversubscribed, so if hon. Membe…

It is a long time since I went to university, but there was a belief then that the least important things we got out of it were degrees and job prospects. There was a value in edu…

Minister, if you could, please leave a minute or so at the end of your contribution for the Member in charge to wind up.

Can hon. Members leave quietly, please? We wish to start the debate.

I will call Vikki Slade, but I want to hear from the Minister because this is an important debate. I am going to restrict the hon. Lady to two minutes.

We have little time, Minister, so please try to leave a minute or two at the end of your speech for the winding-up speech.

Order. The flurry of interventions that we have had over the last three speeches has meant that we have gone two or three minutes over time. I will reduce the time available to th…

Order. I am going to have to reduce the time limit to two minutes. That speech lasted longer than I expected.

Order. I am going to reduce the time for speeches to three minutes.

Order. I remind Members of two things: first, interventions should be brief; and secondly, if you say “you”, you are referring to me.

Order. Members who wish to speak should bob. I have taken a rough count of those who have, and we will start with a four-minute limit, which I might have to reduce later.

I am rather surprised that nobody has mentioned that there is a constitutional precedent for by-elections when situations change. It used to be the case that when Members were app…