Orders of the Day — LATE NIGHT REFRESHMENT HOUSES BILL [Lords] – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 14 October 1969.
Sir Arthur Irvine
, Liverpool Edge Hill
12:00,
14 October 1969
I beg to move, as a manuscript Amendment, in page 7, line 9, leave out "1st September, 1969" and insert "1st January, 1970."
Mr Graham Page
, Crosby
On a point of order, Mr. Gourlay. I also came armed with a manuscript Amendment to amend this retrospective legislation, but I am a little more optimistic. If I may hand in my manuscript Amendment, it is to alter the date to 1st November, 1969.
The Deputy Chairman:
We have received a second Amendment, but the Committee can discuss only the Amendment which is being proposed.
Sir Arthur Irvine
, Liverpool Edge Hill
This was an anomaly. It is anomalous that the date 1st September appears in the Bill. It arises as a result of the history of this matter. I am dealing with it by way of a manuscript Amendment because as matters developed—the hon. Member for Crosby (Mr. Graham Page) will not blame me for this—the Second Reading of the Bill was deferred from yesterday and, therefore, this issue had to be dealt with in this way.
Mr Graham Page
, Crosby
On a point of order. May we discuss my manuscript Amendment with the Amendment proposed by the Solicitor-General?
Mr Graham Page
, Crosby
Obviously the Bill could not be allowed to go through having retrospective effect and saying that it shall come into operation on 1st September 1969. I am not sure why it is necessary to delay its coming into operation until 1st January, 1970. We are passing the Bill tonight with no Amendment except as to date. Let us bring it into operation nearly at once. I have chosen 1st November, 1969, as being more acceptable than 1st January, 1970.
Mr Robert Cooke
, Bristol West
I support what has been said by my hon. Friend the Member for Crosby (Mr. Graham Page). There is no objection to 1st November, 1969. There is nothing new in the Bill. We are told that we cannot debate it because it is a consolidation Measure, so there cannot be anything new in it. My hon. Friend has put an incontrovertible argument in favour of bringing the Bill into operation at once.
Mr William Wilson
, Coventry South
As a member of the Joint Consolidation Committee, and recognising that the Bill does not alter the law, may I suggest that the two front bench spokesmen should throw up a penny and decide in that way whether to have November or January.
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.
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.
The first bench on either side of the House of Commons, reserved for ministers and leaders of the principal political parties.
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.
