Orders of the Day — Civil Defence Bill. – in the House of Commons at on 12 June 1939.
Mr William Morrison
, Cirencester and Tewkesbury
I beg to move, in page 54, line 36, at the end, to add:
(5) Any reference in this Section to land includes a reference to any building or part of a building.
This Amendment is necessary where a local authority wishes to hire part of a building, and express power is necessary to enable them to do so.
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.
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.
