Orders of the Day — Finance Bill – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 30 June 1964.
Mr Maurice Macmillan
, Halifax
12:00,
30 June 1964
I beg to move, in page 11, line 41, to leave out "special".
This is a very small Amendment, and refers to the controls enabling a vehicle to qualify for Excise Duty exemption. It arose out of a special case which was brought to the attention of the Committee by the hon. Member for Willesden, West (Mr. Pavitt). It takes account of one class of invalid or disabled person, that is to say, a person who meets the somewhat stringent conditions of the Ministry of Health and qualifies for a vehicle or invalid tricycle and yet can drive a motor car with no further alteration than an automatic gear box. By leaving out the word "special" the automatic gear box becomes, for the purpose of the Clause, a device enabling an invalid to drive the vehicle.
I hope that the Amendment will commend itself to the House.
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.
