Part of Orders of the Day — Part Ii – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 13 Mai 1947.
Mr Lewis Silkin
, Camberwell Peckham
12:00,
13 Mai 1947
The procedure which the Amendment seeks to impose is one which normally will be followed. Of course the imposition of a new trunk road on a plan would have a very important effect —it would seriously affect the plan for better or worse—and, I believe, it cannot be done without the knowledge or approval of the Minister. I take it we are agreed there—it just would not happen. The only question is whether there should be words in this Clause to say the obvious. I do not mind at this time of the night putting in words even to say the obvious, for the sake of peace, but I should like to consider whether there is any snag in these words. There is no difference between us as to what is to happen and, subject to there being no objection to words of this sort, either constitutional or otherwise, I should be quite prepared to see that they are put in at a later stage.
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.
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.
