Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:08,
4 July 2017
And that brings us to voting time. Unless three Members wish for the bell to be rung, I will move immediately to the vote. And the vote, therefore, is on the debate on new taxation, and on Amendment 1. I call for a vote on amendment 1, tabled in the name of Paul Davies. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 44, nine abstentions, none against. Therefore, amendment 1 is agreed.
Division number 389
Item 7 - Debate: Considering the case for new taxes in Wales (60 mins)
Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:09,
4 July 2017
The second vote, on Amendment 2, and I call for a vote on amendment 2, tabled in the name of Paul Davies. Open the vote. Close the vote. [Interruption.] The vote is open.
Mae'r bleidlais yn agored, am y tro olaf.
Close the vote. In favour 53, no abstentions, none against, and therefore amendment 2 is agreed.
Division number 390
NDM6352 - Amendment 2
Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:10,
4 July 2017
I therefore call for a vote on the motion as amended, tabled in the name of Jane Hutt.
Motion NDM6352 as amended:
To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:
1. Notes that the Wales Act 2014 allows for the creation of new Welsh taxes.
2. Recognises that it will be necessary to test this new aspect of the devolution machinery.
3. Welcomes a wide range of potential ideas for use of this new fiscal possibility in Wales.
4. Believes that any new taxes should adhere to the views expressed by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government, in his written statement issued on 5 July 2016, that ‘there should be no change for change's sake’.
5. Calls on the Welsh Government to make arrangements for an independent review of any new taxes to be completed within 6 years of their introduction.
Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:10,
4 July 2017
Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 53, no abstentions, none against, and therefore the motion as amended is agreed.
Division number 391
NDM6352 - Motion (as amended)
Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:10,
4 July 2017
And that brings today’s proceedings to a close.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
The House of Commons votes by dividing. Those voting Aye (yes) to any proposition walk through the division lobby to the right of the Speaker and those voting no through the lobby to the left. In each of the lobbies there are desks occupied by Clerks who tick Members' names off division lists as they pass through. Then at the exit doors the Members are counted by two Members acting as tellers. The Speaker calls for a vote by announcing "Clear the Lobbies". In the House of Lords "Clear the Bar" is called. Division Bells ring throughout the building and the police direct all Strangers to leave the vicinity of the Members’ Lobby. They also walk through the public rooms of the House shouting "division". MPs have eight minutes to get to the Division Lobby before the doors are closed. Members make their way to the Chamber, where Whips are on hand to remind the uncertain which way, if any, their party is voting. Meanwhile the Clerks who will take the names of those voting have taken their place at the high tables with the alphabetical lists of MPs' names on which ticks are made to record the vote. When the tellers are ready the counting process begins - the recording of names by the Clerk and the counting of heads by the tellers. When both lobbies have been counted and the figures entered on a card this is given to the Speaker who reads the figures and announces "So the Ayes [or Noes] have it". In the House of Lords the process is the same except that the Lobbies are called the Contents Lobby and the Not Contents Lobby. Unlike many other legislatures, the House of Commons and the House of Lords have not adopted a mechanical or electronic means of voting. This was considered in 1998 but rejected. Divisions rarely take less than ten minutes and those where most Members are voting usually take about fifteen. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P9 at the UK Parliament site.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
