Orders of the Day — Czecho - Slovakia (Financial Claims and Refugees) Bill. – in the House of Commons at on 24 January 1940.
Mr Robert Boothby
, Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire Eastern
Before we finally part with the Bill I would ask my right hon. and gallant Friend to give the House one assurance. He has promised to take into account in drafting the Order the views that were expressed in the Debate yesterday by hon. Members on all sides of the House; and I am sure he will bear in mind that there has been, especially in certain quarters above the Gangway on the Opposition side, some criticism of the payments to be made to the bondholders, for which I think there is some justification. There has on the other hand been no criticism whatever of meeting the purely cash claims, which come into a different category; and, indeed, the view has been taken, and expressed by several hon. Members on both sides of the House, that these cash claims should be met in full. What I should like to ask my right hon. and gallant Friend is that, subject to consideration of the points put forward in the Debate yesterday, the Treasury Order will be presented to the House as soon as possible after the passage of the Bill; and that he will give an assurance that he will do everything in his power to expedite the payments that may then be made, in view of the fact that many of the claimants are hard pressed financially, and have already had to wait for a very long time. I realise that there may have to be some delay, but an assurance that it will be as short as possible would, I think, be very acceptable.
Captain Harry Crookshank
, Gainsborough
Yes, it is certainly not our intention to delay matters unduly. This has been a long and complicated business, and the fact still remains that the claims which have been registered will necessarily call for careful investigation, but my hon. Friend may be assured that no delay that we can possibly avoid will be allowed to occur.
Major Henry Procter
, Accrington
I should like to know whether the right hon. and gallant Gentleman has come to any conclusion as to the interpretation of the Clause which I mentioned yesterday, when he said that he would consult his legal advisers. The reason I ask is that once this Bill is passed we can only rely upon the Order and the white paper. I shall be pleased to know if he has come to any conclusion.
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.
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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".
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
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.
