Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 13 Rhagfyr 1973.
Ian Paisley
Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party
12:00,
13 Rhagfyr 1973
Would the Minister not agree that the two letters—I invite him to print them in the OFFICIAL REPORT—did not invite Mr. Craig or myself to open-ended talks, but invited us to give our opinion on one matter—the Council of Ireland—and not the other matters in paragraph 112 of the white paper? Will he not concede to the House that the letter asking us to go to the Sunningdale talks was delivered to the House of Commons at three o'clock? We replied immediately, and the letter was delivered at six o'clock to the Castle. Therefore, there was no need for a plane to be standing by next day, because our firm refusal to attend had already been notified. I have a copy of the letter. The Minister said we were invited to open-ended talks, but we were not. We were invited to express an opinion on only one matter, the Council of Ireland.
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.
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.
A document issued by the Government laying out its policy, or proposed policy, on a topic of current concern.Although a white paper may occasion consultation as to the details of new legislation, it does signify a clear intention on the part of a government to pass new law. This is a contrast with green papers, which are issued less frequently, are more open-ended and may merely propose a strategy to be implemented in the details of other legislation.
More from wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_paper
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.
