Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am ar 27 Gorffennaf 1923.
Mr Edward Harney
, South Shields
The undertaking which the Attorney-General gave was not that he would delete the Clause if on a free vote it was found to have a Majority against it, but the undertaking was that he would delete the Clause if in Committee he was satisfied by arguments on the other side that it did not enlarge the right of trial by jury that existed before the War. I then asked, and I was careful to point it out, whether he was referring to the rights that had been largely taken away during the War or to the enlargement of the rights that existed before the War, and I understood him distinctly to say "the rights before the War."
A vote where members are not obliged to support their party's position, and can vote however they choose. This is the opposite to a whipped vote. It is customary for parties to provide a free vote for legislation dealing with matters of conscience.
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 term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
