Part of Adoption and Children Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 9:45 am on 17 January 2002.
Mr George Stevenson
Labour, Stoke-on-Trent South
9:45,
17 January 2002
Order. The hon. Member was making a lengthy Intervention; I think that the hon. Member for Cardiff, West (Kevin Brennan) has got the point.
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.
An intervention is when the MP making a speech is interrupted by another MP and asked to 'give way' to allow the other MP to intervene on the speech to ask a question or comment on what has just been said.
