Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am ar 25 Tachwedd 1943.
Viscount Hinchingbrooke
, Dorset Southern
I beg to second the Amendment.
It is common ground among hon. Members that the catering arrangements of this House could be improved. One way to do that is to reduce the number of Members on the Committee and thus enable the Committee to do its work more expeditiously and efficiently. We ought to review the names of the present 17 Members and appoint some of them to serve on a much smaller body.
The House of Commons is one of the houses of parliament. Here, elected MPs (elected by the "commons", i.e. the people) debate. In modern times, nearly all power resides in this house. In the commons are 650 MPs, as well as a speaker and three deputy speakers.
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.
