North Wiltshire MP James GrayNORTH Wiltshire MP James Gray has admitted an experiment to introduce family friendly working hours in the House of Commons has left him with nothing to do during long evenings in London.

Under a two-year trial the Commons working day has started and finished earlier.

The House opens for business at 11.30am, instead of 2.30pm, from Tuesday to Thursday and finishes at 6pm or 7pm, instead of 10pm.

The timetable has been popular with women MPs and south-eastern MPs, who can head back to their families and enjoy their evenings at home

But Mr Gray, who stays in a London flat during the week, told a Commons select committee that scrapping late night debates has led to congested day sessions and empty evenings.

He said: "I am one of those who take the view that Tuesday and Wednesday evenings are now largely wasted time and that there is an unacceptably high level of congestion in the mornings and around lunchtime.

"Even the name Parlia-ment means a place where people meet to talk. By finishing the formal business at 7.30pm there is an inevitable temptation for those who happen to live in London to go home, leaving those of us who live in our constituencies slightly wondering what to do next.

"Parliament is becoming a two day a week place, which is deeply unsatisfactory."

A report by the House of Commons modernisation committee yesterday recommends that the trial hours should stay, with an extra hour added on Thursday.

Chairman of the committee, Peter Hain, said: "The previous pattern of sitting from mid afternoon late into the night was established around the end of the 19th Century."

It would be a backward step for us to return to such outdated sitting patterns only two years after they were first introduced."

Swindon South MP Julia Drown said that Thursday working hours should not be changed.

She added: "That idea is still a backward step. It will mean many MPs are unable to get back to their constituencies on Thursday night in time for constituency surgery on Friday morning.

"All of these reviews miss the point that we still work inefficiently. We should be able to vote electronically."

Something to think about here, James

Here are ten suggestions for ease the boredom of a Tory MP.

1 Total up expenses

2 Mount a successful leadership campaign

3 Watch classic TV repeats such as Yes Minister

4 Search for a country retreat to relieve pressures of London

5 Pen letters to local constituents

6 Meet other bored MPs for an old boys' night out

7 Round of golf

8 Ride on the London Eye

9 Brush-up on the Tory manifesto to avoid embarrassing gaffs

10 Dish up the dirt on opposition politicians by studying their autobiographies.