Part of Orders of the Day — Finance Bill. – in the House of Commons am ar 30 Mehefin 1924.
Mr Arthur Samuel
, Farnham
I see quite plainly that the amount of money involved is too largo a sum for the Chancellor of the exchequer to grant. I would draw this conclusion from his speech. He tells us that the duty on sweetened table waters caused a diminution of the sale. The moral to draw from that is that sweetened table waters are a luxury. The duty has had no effect on unsweetened waters. Why? Because unsweetened water, pure water, is a necessity.
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 chancellor of the exchequer is the government's chief financial minister and as such is responsible for raising government revenue through taxation or borrowing and for controlling overall government spending.
The chancellor's plans for the economy are delivered to the House of Commons every year in the Budget speech.
The chancellor is the most senior figure at the Treasury, even though the prime minister holds an additional title of 'First Lord of the Treasury'. He normally resides at Number 11 Downing Street.
