– in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 29 Gorffennaf 1964.
Mrs Barbara Castle
, Blackburn
12:00,
29 Gorffennaf 1964
Mr Duncan Sandys
, Wandsworth Streatham
In the course of the debate yesterday in Another place the view was expressed that the new Clause 46 which provides comprehensive safeguards against discrimination of all kinds would, in certain respects, particularly with regard to marriage Laws, afford less protection than subsection 3 of Clause 41 of the earlier draft proposed by the Government of Malta.
It was obviously not our intention that any amendments which we made to the Malta Government's draft should result in diminishing in any way the safeguards provided. I have spoken on the telephone to the Prime Minister of Malta, who has agreed that the matter should be looked into at once.
Mrs Barbara Castle
, Blackburn
Is it not a fact that the point raised in Another place yesterday about the effect of Clauses 41 and 46 on the rights of religious minorities with regard to marriage and other matters was specifically raised in this House on Second Reading by my hon. Friend the Member for Barking (Mr. Driberg) and other hon. Members and that the right hon. Gentleman at that time pooh-poohed the idea that there was anything to worry about and suggested that we were making a mountain out of a molehill?
Is it not clear that the right hon. Gentleman has been so busy trying to railroad his independence Bill through this House that he has not taken time to understand his own Constitution? Has he not grossly misled the House? Will he now apologise to the House, or will he take steps to see that the Royal Assent is not given to the Bill until the actual changes have been made in the Constitution to meet the legitimate fears of the Churches in this country?
Mr Duncan Sandys
, Wandsworth Streatham
I have nothing to apologise about.
Mrs Barbara Castle
, Blackburn
The right hon. Gentleman misled the House.
Mr Duncan Sandys
, Wandsworth Streatham
It is not an unusual thing—[HON. MEMBERS: "Hear, hear."]—even for the Opposition sometimes to make a constructive contribution to legislation.
Mr Emrys Hughes
, South Ayrshire
That is not what the right hon. Gentleman was going to say.
Mr Duncan Sandys
, Wandsworth Streatham
What has happened is that during the course of Parliamentary discussion a weakness, or alleged weakness, has been revealed and the Government have undertaken at once to look into it. All this shows, first, the value of Another place, and, secondly, how well the Executive works with the Legislature.
Mr Fenner Brockway
, Eton and Slough
How does the right hon. Gentleman propose to deal with this matter? Will it be necessary for an Order in Council to be produced? Will it be necessary to have an Amendment of the Order in Council which is already proposed? If so, will this House have an opportunity of expressing a judgment upon it?
Mr Duncan Sandys
, Wandsworth Streatham
No, there is no technical problem of any kind. As I explained to the House, it was very important to get the Bill through before the House rose. Otherwise, there would be many months of delay in the granting of independence to Malta.
The Constitution is introduced by an Order in Council which has not yet been made, and there is no immediate hurry for making it. The House will not have a further chance of discussing this matter unless it wishes to sit on into August.
Mr Arthur Bottomley
, Middlesbrough East
Is it not a fact that the Secretary of State is now giving support to the contention from both sides of the House that the Bill and the writing of the Constitution have been rushed unnecessarily? We have not had time to consider the matter as fully as we should have done. Is it not a fact that the right hon. Gentleman misled the House when, in the debate on 23rd July, he said:
We are making certain changes in a liberal direction …"?—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 23rd July, 1964; Vol. 699, c. 782.]
This was not done, and we not only once but twice asked for a reassurance on this matter from the Secretary of State.
Will the right hon. Gentleman now give an assurance to the House that Clause 41 (3) of the earlier draft Constitution is restored to its full effect when the Order in Council is made?
Mr Duncan Sandys
, Wandsworth Streatham
That is precisely what I am discussing with the Prime Minister of Malta.
Mr Duncan Sandys
, Wandsworth Streatham
This should involve no delay at all.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
During a debate members of the House of Commons traditionally refer to the House of Lords as 'another place' or 'the other place'.
Peers return the gesture when they speak of the Commons in the same way.
This arcane form of address is something the Labour Government has been reviewing as part of its programme to modernise the Houses of Parliament.
Laws are the rules by which a country is governed. Britain has a long history of law making and the laws of this country can be divided into three types:- 1) Statute Laws are the laws that have been made by Parliament. 2) Case Law is law that has been established from cases tried in the courts - the laws arise from test cases. The result of the test case creates a precedent on which future cases are judged. 3) Common Law is a part of English Law, which has not come from Parliament. It consists of rules of law which have developed from customs or judgements made in courts over hundreds of years. For example until 1861 Parliament had never passed a law saying that murder was an offence. From the earliest times courts had judged that murder was a crime so there was no need to make a law.
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.
The Second Reading is the most important stage for a Bill. It is when the main purpose of a Bill is discussed and voted on. If the Bill passes it moves on to the Committee Stage. Further information can be obtained from factsheet L1 on the UK Parliament website.
The Opposition are the political parties in the House of Commons other than the largest or Government party. They are called the Opposition because they sit on the benches opposite the Government in the House of Commons Chamber. The largest of the Opposition parties is known as Her Majesty's Opposition. The role of the Official Opposition is to question and scrutinise the work of Government. The Opposition often votes against the Government. In a sense the Official Opposition is the "Government in waiting".
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.
