Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Civil Defence. – in the House of Commons at on 8 February 1940.
Rear-Admiral Tufton Beamish
, Lewes
Is it not a fact that the whole question hinges on the interpretation of a Clause in the Act and is it not possible to get the highest legal opinion in the country and have the thing settled?
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.
