Transitional provision

Part of Video Recordings Bill (Allocation of Time) – in the House of Commons at 2:49 pm on 6 January 2010.

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Photo of Siôn Simon Siôn Simon Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Culture, Media and Sport 2:49, 6 January 2010

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker- [Interruption.] Understandably, I am being ribbed from sedentary positions by Opposition Members about what I might say about the Bill on Third Reading, given that we have considered it in so many stages so recently.

Deputy Speaker

The Deputy speaker is in charge of proceedings of the House of Commons in the absence of the Speaker.

The deputy speaker's formal title is Chairman of Ways and Means, one of whose functions is to preside over the House of Commons when it is in a Committee of the Whole House.

The deputy speaker also presides over the Budget.

Opposition

The Opposition are the political parties in the House of Commons other than the largest or Government party. They are called the Opposition because they sit on the benches opposite the Government in the House of Commons Chamber. The largest of the Opposition parties is known as Her Majesty's Opposition. The role of the Official Opposition is to question and scrutinise the work of Government. The Opposition often votes against the Government. In a sense the Official Opposition is the "Government in waiting".