Part of Civil Contingencies Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 5:00 pm on 10 February 2004.
Patrick Mercer
Conservative, Newark
5:00,
10 February 2004
I am sorry if I spoiled the hon. Gentleman's breakfast; I have no doubt that he consumed all the sausages that he might otherwise have thrown to us. The analogy cannot go on; I have obviously had my chips. The Minister has made it clear that he is not going to give any ground, despite the eloquent Intervention of the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hallam.
I have no doubt that we shall wish to return to this subject on Report, but in light of what the Minister said, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion.
Motion and Clause, by leave, withdrawn.
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.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
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.
