– in the House of Commons at 6:59 pm on 26 October 2005.
Votes in this debate
Motion made, and Question put forthwith, pursuant to Standing Order 83A(6) (Programme motions),
That the following provisions shall apply to the Terrorism Bill:
Committal
1. The Bill shall be committed to a Committee of the whole House.
Proceedings in Committee
2. (1) Proceedings in Committee of the whole House shall be completed in two days.
(2) Those proceedings shall be taken in the order shown in the first column of the following Table and shall be brought to a conclusion (so far as not previously concluded) at the times specified in the second column.
| Proceedings | Time for conclusion of proceedings |
| First day | |
| Clauses 1 to 4 | Three hours after the commencement of proceedings on the Bill on the first day. |
| Clauses 23 and 24 | The moment of interruption on the first day or three hours after the commencement of proceedings on Clause 23, whichever is the later |
| Second day | |
| Clauses 21 and 22, Clauses 5 to 20, Schedule 1, Clauses 25 to 27, Schedule 2, Clauses 28 to 36, Schedule 3, Clauses 37 and 38, new Clauses, new Schedules, remaining proceedings on the Bill | The moment of interruption on the second day. |
(3)
Consideration and Third Reading
3. Any proceedings on consideration shall be brought to a conclusion (so far as not previously concluded) six hours after the commencement of those proceedings.
4. Proceedings on Third Reading shall be brought to a conclusion (so far as not previously concluded) four hours after the commencement of those proceedings.
5.
Programming of other proceedings
6. Any other proceedings on the Bill (including any proceedings on consideration of Lords Amendments or on any further messages from the Lords) may be programmed.— [Mr. Cawsey.]
The House divided: Ayes 303, Noes 245.
Division number 71
Terrorism Bill — Timetable
The clause by clause consideration of a parliamentary bill takes place at its committee stage.
In the Commons this usually takes place in a standing committee, outside the Chamber, but occasionally a bill will be considered in a committee of the Whole House in the main chamber.
This means the bill is discussed in detail on the floor of the House by all MPs.
Any bill can be committed to a Committee of the Whole House but the procedure is normally reserved for finance bills and other important, controversial legislation.
The Chairman of Ways and Means presides over these Committees and the mace is placed on a bracket underneath the Table.
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.
The House of Commons votes by dividing. Those voting Aye (yes) to any proposition walk through the division lobby to the right of the Speaker and those voting no through the lobby to the left. In each of the lobbies there are desks occupied by Clerks who tick Members' names off division lists as they pass through. Then at the exit doors the Members are counted by two Members acting as tellers. The Speaker calls for a vote by announcing "Clear the Lobbies". In the House of Lords "Clear the Bar" is called. Division Bells ring throughout the building and the police direct all Strangers to leave the vicinity of the Members’ Lobby. They also walk through the public rooms of the House shouting "division". MPs have eight minutes to get to the Division Lobby before the doors are closed. Members make their way to the Chamber, where Whips are on hand to remind the uncertain which way, if any, their party is voting. Meanwhile the Clerks who will take the names of those voting have taken their place at the high tables with the alphabetical lists of MPs' names on which ticks are made to record the vote. When the tellers are ready the counting process begins - the recording of names by the Clerk and the counting of heads by the tellers. When both lobbies have been counted and the figures entered on a card this is given to the Speaker who reads the figures and announces "So the Ayes [or Noes] have it". In the House of Lords the process is the same except that the Lobbies are called the Contents Lobby and the Not Contents Lobby. Unlike many other legislatures, the House of Commons and the House of Lords have not adopted a mechanical or electronic means of voting. This was considered in 1998 but rejected. Divisions rarely take less than ten minutes and those where most Members are voting usually take about fifteen. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P9 at the UK Parliament site.
