– in the House of Commons at on 6 July 1923.
Mr William Joynson-Hicks
, Twickenham
I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."
This is a much simpler Bill than the last. It is moved every year. By its constitution, the Isle of Man is entitled to impose certain Customs Duties, but those Customs Duties are not valid unless this House sanction them within six months. It is our duty to sanction them. I do not know what the Isle of Man would do if we did not sanction them. We might be exposing ourselves to a declaration of war from the island. There never has been any difficulty in times past in passing this annual Customs Bill.
Mr James O'Grady
, Leeds South East
Will the right hon. Gentlemen declare what are the Customs Duties?
Mr William Joynson-Hicks
, Twickenham
They are all set out in the Bill. There is a duty on tobacco, the same as in this country; a duty on beer, which is slightly different; and duties on spirits and cocoa, and import duties on clocks and watches, exactly the same as the Imperial Duty. But for some reason there is no duty on pianos or harmoniums in the Isle of Man.
Mr James O'Grady
, Leeds South East
Would these be double duties?
Mr William Joynson-Hicks
, Twickenham
No; there is only one duty.
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.
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.
