Part of Fuel and Electricity (Control) Bill – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 29 November 1973.
The Minister may say that future Governments will not do this, but under Clause 2 they can do precisely what they like. While I have every confidence in the Minister's assurances that he and his colleagues would never think of perpetrating such acts, if there were a change of Government that Government could do what they liked. We should not stand aside now and let the oil industry be caught by conditions which it may find very unfavourable, which could lead to their take-over and the usurpation of some of their powers.
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.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
