Part of Orders of the Day — Indian Independence Bill – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 14 July 1947.
Sir Godfrey Nicholson
, Farnham
12:00,
14 July 1947
The Secretary of State was originally automatically represented in this country, and suable in this country. Is the Secretary of State saying that by this Bill that remedy is to be taken away from people?
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
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.
