Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:47 pm on 7 March 2017.
Carwyn Jones
Labour
1:47,
7 March 2017
We will do everything that we can to make sure that that doesn’t happen. We will take this legislation through the Assembly, and we believe it will pass with the support of not just the governing party, of course, but that of her own party as well, we trust. It is a matter then for the UK Parliament, and the House of Lords particularly, to decide whether it is constitutionally appropriate to seek to overturn legislation made in a devolved parliament by the elected Members of that devolved parliament acting within competence. That is a serious constitutional matter that the UK Parliament will embroil itself in if it goes down that line.
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.
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.
