– in the House of Lords at 3:23 pm on 7 July 2025.
Lord Wilson of Sedgefield
Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
My Lords, before we start the debate on the first group of amendments, I repeat the reminders from last week on declaring interests. As we set out previously, noble Lords should declare relevant interests at each stage of proceedings on a Bill. That means that, in their first contribution on Report, noble Lords must declare any relevant financial interests in a specific but brief way. Declarations do not need to be repeated in subsequent speeches on Report, so if noble Lords made a declaration last week, they do not need to do it again. As my noble friend the Chief Whip reminded the House last week, it is no longer sufficient to say that one’s interests are as set out in the register.
Clause 11: Right to request permission to keep a pet
The government chief whip, whose official title is parliamentary secretary to the Treasury, is appointed by the prime minister and is responsible to him.
The chief whip has to maintain party discipline and to try to ensure that members of the party vote with the government in important debates.
Along with the other party whips he or she looks after the day-to-day management of the government's business in Parliament.
The chief whip is a member of the Cabinet.
It is customary for both the government and the opposition chief whips not to take part in parliamentary debates.
The chief whip's official residence is Number 12 Downing Street.
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.
