– in the House of Commons at on 12 December 1939.
Mr Clement Attlee
, Stepney Limehouse
May I ask the Prime Minister whether he has any statement to make to the House concerning business?
Mr Neville Chamberlain
, Birmingham, Edgbaston
I presume the right hon. Gentleman means the business today. After we have disposed of the Expiring Laws Continuance Bill, the Postponement of Enactments Bill and the Draft Unemployment Assistance Amendment Regulation, we desire to obtain the Committee stage of the Gas and Steam Vehicles (Excise Duties) Resolution, and for this purpose the Eleven o' Clock Rule is being suspended. This is only a precautionary measure. We also intend tonight to move the Motion for the appointment of the Select Committee on National Expenditure.
I might take this opportunity of informing the House of the preliminary Business which we desire to obtain before the Secret Sitting begins to-morrow. We would like to obtain the Report stage of the Ways and Means Resolution with regard to the reduction of motor taxation for vehicles using gas. The Bill could then be brought in and be ready for Second Reading after the Recess.
I am informed that a Motion to approve the Newcastle-under-Lyme Gas Order is being handed in to-day. The Order is unopposed and ordinarily it would have come before the House at the end of the sitting. I hope that the House will agree to dispose of these two items at the beginning of Business to-morrow.
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.
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.
