Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am ar 25 Gorffennaf 1922.
Mr Arthur Neal
, Sheffield, Hillsborough
I never said anything of the kind, nor do I intend anything of the kind to be understood from what I say. These companies have statutory rights, and if the House is to interfere with statutory rights it must do so with great care. Clause 15 has been given to them in Another place. By that Clause the Government stand. If a concession is to be made it must be made by them, and on that point I will read some passages from the discussion in Committee. Speaking on the 5th of this month, I said:
Still, it does seem me that there is room for consideration of words, to see whether it is not possible, with the good will of everybody, to get a Clause which shall in no way destroy the advantages which the Government conceded in another place, and yet, at the came time, shell make it quite clear that the rights of the consumer, who is, ultimately, the real person to be considered, shall not be prejudiced, I cannot accept the Amendment moved by my hon. Friend, but I hope that the discussion will throw light upon the matter, and that finally, we may be able, at a later stage, to get words satisfactory to everybody."—[OFFICIAL REPORT, Standing Committee C. 5th July, 1922; col. 96.]
In the course of the Debate my hon. Friend the Member for the Moseley Division of Birmingham (Mr. Hannon) said:
I hope that this controversy will be brought to a close and that the Parliamentary Secretary will meet the various interests in the spirit which he suggested and that a solution will be found, but that solution must not lose sight of the interests of those people who have put their capital into this industry and have taken the risk of making the industry what it is to-day.
Then the hon. Member for Central Portsmouth (Sir T. Bramsdon) said:
I am grateful to the Parliamentary Secretary for accepting the suggestion I made, and I am sure he is anxious to meet the wishes of all parties. I take it that the whole of the points that are raised in connection with Clause 16 will be considered by him at the conference, and that all parties who are directly interested in various ways will join him.
To that I said:
I may have separate conferences.
The hon. Member for Portsmouth then said:
As far as the hon. Member is able consistently to meet the various parties lie will de so."—[OFFICIAL REPORT, Standing Committee C, 5th July, 1922, col. 116.]
Had I failed to meet those persons who are interested I should have definitely gone back on my pledge. This Clause meets the approval of the Power Companies' Association, of which my hon. Friend the Member for Hampstead (Mr. G. Balfour) is a member. I regret that he was not consulted. Apparently he was not in his place during the last few days. I should have been glad to see him, and confer with him upon it.
Of a male MP, sitting on his regular seat in the House. For females, "in her place".
In a normal session there are up to ten standing committees on bills. Each has a chair and from 16 to 50 members. Standing committee members on bills are appointed afresh for each new bill by the Committee of Selection which is required to take account of the composition of the House of Commons (ie. party proportions) as well as the qualification of members to be nominated. The committees are chaired by a member of the Chairmen's Panel (whose members are appointed by the Speaker). In standing committees the Chairman has much the same function as the Speaker in the House of Commons. Like the Speaker, a chairman votes only in the event of a tie, and then usually in accordance with precedent. The committees consider each bill clause by clause and may make amendments. There are no standing committees in the House of Lords.
During a debate members of the House of Commons traditionally refer to the House of Lords as 'another place' or 'the other place'.
Peers return the gesture when they speak of the Commons in the same way.
This arcane form of address is something the Labour Government has been reviewing as part of its programme to modernise the Houses of Parliament.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
The House of Commons votes by dividing. Those voting Aye (yes) to any proposition walk through the division lobby to the right of the Speaker and those voting no through the lobby to the left. In each of the lobbies there are desks occupied by Clerks who tick Members' names off division lists as they pass through. Then at the exit doors the Members are counted by two Members acting as tellers. The Speaker calls for a vote by announcing "Clear the Lobbies". In the House of Lords "Clear the Bar" is called. Division Bells ring throughout the building and the police direct all Strangers to leave the vicinity of the Members’ Lobby. They also walk through the public rooms of the House shouting "division". MPs have eight minutes to get to the Division Lobby before the doors are closed. Members make their way to the Chamber, where Whips are on hand to remind the uncertain which way, if any, their party is voting. Meanwhile the Clerks who will take the names of those voting have taken their place at the high tables with the alphabetical lists of MPs' names on which ticks are made to record the vote. When the tellers are ready the counting process begins - the recording of names by the Clerk and the counting of heads by the tellers. When both lobbies have been counted and the figures entered on a card this is given to the Speaker who reads the figures and announces "So the Ayes [or Noes] have it". In the House of Lords the process is the same except that the Lobbies are called the Contents Lobby and the Not Contents Lobby. Unlike many other legislatures, the House of Commons and the House of Lords have not adopted a mechanical or electronic means of voting. This was considered in 1998 but rejected. Divisions rarely take less than ten minutes and those where most Members are voting usually take about fifteen. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P9 at the UK Parliament site.
