Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am ar 15 Gorffennaf 1925.
Miss Ellen Wilkinson
, Middlesbrough East
The right hon. Gentleman says that the woman would be an assessor. Well, the difficulty, of course, with assessors is that their advice may or may not be taken by the referees, and I was anxious to put this Amendment in this particular way to include women among the referees so that she would not merely be a lady whose advice may or may not be taken, but that she should have equal status with whatever men were there judging the case. It is an important matter of principle.
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.
