Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am ar 15 Gorffennaf 1925.
Mr Hastings Lees-Smith
, Keighley
I beg to move, in page 29, line 44, at the end, to insert the words
Provided that all orders made under this Act shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament as soon as may be after they are made, and shall have effect as if enacted in this Act, and if an Address is presented to His Majesty by either House of Parliament within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat next after any such regulation is laid before it, praying that the regulation may be annulled, His Majesty in Council may annul the regulation, and it shall thenceforth be void, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.
This Clause is one to which we on these benches take the greatest objection, and is one to which, I think, we shall find objection is taken from the opposite benches, and one on which, I hope, the feeling of the Committee will have some effect upon the mind of the Minister. It is a Clause which gives the Minister power to make certain Orders, and the Amendment is of a very simple character, laying it down that, before these Orders become finally operative, they shall be laid upon the Table of the House for 21 days, and that if a Resolution be passed against them, then the Minister may annul them. If the Committee will read this Clause, they will see how extraordinary the nature of it is. It is, in fact, what we have called the, Mussolini Clause, and by it the Minister of Health is obtaining wider powers than Mussolini is claiming at this moment in Italy. That is not an exaggeration. In order to explain what I mean by that, may I read the Clause to the Committee?
If in any respect any difficulty arises in bringing into operation this Act, the Minister, with the consent of the Treasury, may by order do anything which appears to be necessary or expedient for bringing this Act into operation, and any such order may modify the provisions of this Act so far as may appear necessary or expedient for carrying the order into effect:
And then, at the end, the Minister has these powers conferred for about 18 months, which means that the Minister
may do anything in connection with this Bill as soon as it becomes an Act. He may raise the contributions if he wishes. He may diminish the benefits if he wishes. He can wipe out any Amendment we have carried. [HON. MEMBERS: "No!"] Yes, he can do anything that is "necessary or expedient."
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
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.
