Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 11:51 am on 5 November 2025.
Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent
Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip), Lords Spokesperson (Cabinet Office), Lords Spokesperson (Northern Ireland Office), Lords Spokesperson (Wales Office), Lords Spokesperson (Scotland Office)
11:51,
5 November 2025
My Lords, let me be clear that the legacy Act still stands; nothing has been put into abeyance. We are bringing forward two things: the remedial order to tackle the issue of civil cases and immunity—this was in our manifesto—and new legislation. I can go through the protections for veterans and am happy to write to the noble Lord to specify exactly where they will be, but the overwhelming Majority of them are in the Bill.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
