Spent a few hours on and off today listening to the House of Commons debate same sex marriage, which in the end passed 400 - 175. Now, this was the second reading of the bill, like I knew/know what that means. JMG has had brilliant coverage today and comes to the rescue with British Parliament for dummies:
Before becoming a law, a bill goes thru these stages:
1st reading – effectively announcing that the bill has been published.
2nd reading – at which a substantive debate takes place on the principles underpinning the proposed law; a yes vote at this stage typically means that the bill will become law in a form somewhat close to the draft. [JMG: Today was the second reading.]
Committee Stage – a small committee of members of Parliament reviews the law, makes amendments; typically this is where bad drafting is fixed but also where lobbying really makes a difference.
Lords stage – the House of Lords votes on the Bill and sometimes has its own committees. If they vote no, the Bill goes back to the Commons. The Commons can insist on their own version and overrule the Lords but it’s a big pain to do it.
3rd Reading – once the Lords’ have passed the bill, the Commons votes one last time on the final amended version.
1st reading – effectively announcing that the bill has been published.
2nd reading – at which a substantive debate takes place on the principles underpinning the proposed law; a yes vote at this stage typically means that the bill will become law in a form somewhat close to the draft. [JMG: Today was the second reading.]
Committee Stage – a small committee of members of Parliament reviews the law, makes amendments; typically this is where bad drafting is fixed but also where lobbying really makes a difference.
Lords stage – the House of Lords votes on the Bill and sometimes has its own committees. If they vote no, the Bill goes back to the Commons. The Commons can insist on their own version and overrule the Lords but it’s a big pain to do it.
3rd Reading – once the Lords’ have passed the bill, the Commons votes one last time on the final amended version.
I am sort of skipping around a bit, and yes, the accents do have a lot to do with it, but the total lack of big time bug eyed crazy is just a little bit shocking to me. I have and do watch Prime Minister's Questions often but never really cared that much about the out come. Lots of " RIGHT HONOURABLE FRIENDS "....
Labour 217 Yes, 22 No
Conservatives (Tories) 136 Yes, 144 No
Liberal Democrats 44 Yes, 4 No
Plaid Cymru (Wales) 4 Yes, 0 No.
Democratic Unionists (Northern Ireland) 0 Yes, 8 No
Alliance 1 Yes, 0 No
SDLP (Northern Ireland) 1 Yes, 0 No
Independents 2 Yes, 0 No
Conservatives (Tories) 136 Yes, 144 No
Liberal Democrats 44 Yes, 4 No
Plaid Cymru (Wales) 4 Yes, 0 No.
Democratic Unionists (Northern Ireland) 0 Yes, 8 No
Alliance 1 Yes, 0 No
SDLP (Northern Ireland) 1 Yes, 0 No
Independents 2 Yes, 0 No
There is just all kind of wack-a-doole [ to a wack-a-doodle colonist ] and seemingly arcane rules in Britain. Church wrapped up in State, State wrapped up in Church AND all under the umbrella of the E.U.....
LOTS of great coverage over on JOE'S BLOG.
and IF for what ever reason you want four hours of debate hit the BBC Page.
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