– in a Public Bill Committee at on 4 February 2015.
George Young
Conservative, North West Hampshire
9:30,
4 February 2015
I beg to move,
That, if proceedings on the House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Bill [Lords] are not completed at this day’s sitting, the Committee do meet at 9.30 am and 2.00 pm on Wednesday 11 February.
I welcome you to the Chair, Dr McCrea. This must be one of the last Public Bill Committees of the Parliament, and for some of us it might be the last Public Bill Committee ever. I am sure that under your benign chairmanship, it will be an agreeable experience.
The sittings motion is entirely precautionary. I hope that it will not be necessary to sit next week. The Bill is short and uncontroversial. I believe that we can do it justice this morning, but just in case we cannot, I am moving the motion.
The house of Lords is the upper chamber of the Houses of Parliament. It is filled with Lords (I.E. Lords, Dukes, Baron/esses, Earls, Marquis/esses, Viscounts, Count/esses, etc.) The Lords consider proposals from the EU or from the commons. They can then reject a bill, accept it, or make amendments. If a bill is rejected, the commons can send it back to the lords for re-discussion. The Lords cannot stop a bill for longer than one parliamentary session. If a bill is accepted, it is forwarded to the Queen, who will then sign it and make it law. If a bill is amended, the amended bill is sent back to the House of Commons for discussion.
The Lords are not elected; they are appointed. Lords can take a "whip", that is to say, they can choose a party to represent. Currently, most Peers are Conservative.
