Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am ar 15 Gorffennaf 1925.
Sir Kingsley Wood
, Woolwich West
I do say that there is a considerable analogy between those two oases, and we are simply following the precedent of the National Health Insurance Act itself. That is the explanation of the Government so far as this particular matter is concerned, but I want the Committee to realise that in this Clause we are not touching widows' pensions. So far as the actual Amendment is concerned, I do not think that anyone will care to press it or vote for it, because the result is this. Under the proposal of the hon. Gentleman opposite, children of a man who was killed between the 1st January, 1924, and the 4th January, 1926, will be denied allowance or pensions, while children of a man living in similar circumstances after the 4th January, 1926, are unaffected. Whatever views we may have as regards this Clause no one would desire to make that distinction.
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.
