The work of Parliament

Each parliamentary session begins with the «State Opening of Parliament*, a ceremonial occasion when the Queen announces the programme of the work of Parliament for the coming session. Routine working day of MPs begins in the afternoon (2.30) and lasts until about 10.30 p.m. though sometimes it may be beyond midnight. Lord's working day begins in the morning lasting till afternoon, they do not work on Friday.

The general way and details of conducting business in Parliament is governed by «standing orders» which resulted from custom and precedent.

After brief opening formalities the working day of Parliament begins with Question Time, lasting about an hour. Ministers are asked from 40 to 70 questions on any points MPs choose. But questions should be handed to the officials of the House at least 48 hours beforehand. The answer to the ques­tion is prepared for the ministers by civil servants. There is no means of compelling a minister to give a truthful answer.

Answers are often given without supplying any in­formation at all. An ex-civil servant defined it as fol­lows: «It might be said cynically but with some mea­sure of truth that the perfect reply to an embarrass­ing question is one that is brief, appears to answer the question completely, if challenged can be proved accurate... and discloses nothing*.

Naturally, both the Government and Opposition use this period to reveal the weaknesses of their oppo­nents. So after a minister's formal answer supple­mentary questions may be asked. A minister and his staff preparing answers should anticipate what ques­tions may be asked. The aim of supplementary ques­tions is to outmaneouvre a minister and reveal a weak­ness in the government policy or to persuade the gov­ernment to modify or change its course of action. On two afternoons each week the Prime Minister is to answer questions on general policy matters. These oc­casions are usually the most lively.

After the question-time the House of Commons goes on to the main debate of the day to which it can give 6 hours or more. It often concerns a broad issue of foreign or home policy, or it may be the examination of the contents of a bill, as Parliament's unique and overriding function is the making of laws. The start­ing point is the drafting of a bill. The preparation of the text of the bill takes many months with long con­sultations involving civil-servant and legal experts.

Proposals of a bill sometimes take the form of «white papers*, stating government policy, which can be de­bated before a bill is introduced. «Green papers* are published when the government wants a full public discussion before it formulates its own proposals. When at last the draft receives approval of Cabinet it is ready to be submitted to Parliament. It should pass through both Houses of Parliament and it may begin its journey in either of the Houses, but usually the bills are introduced first in the House of Commons.

The procedure of passing a bill is similar in both Houses. The first stage of the bill's progress is still known as «reading*, although the bill is no longer read aloud. This is a remainder of the days when print­ed copies were not generally available and the two Houses had to be informed of the contents of the bill by hearing a clerk read it aloud.

Nowadays the first «reading stage* is a formality... It is during the second reading that crucial debates take place perhaps about a week later. The Minister or MP in charge of the bill explains to the House the whole purpose of the bill and the means proposed for putting it in effect. Then the main debates begin. Some MPs may support the bill, others may oppose it. When various speeches have been made for and against the bill, the Speaker will then ask whether the bill is to pass the second reading and to go on to the next stage. If the House is not unanimous in favour of the bill, if there is disagreement the Speaker (or Lord Chancel­lor) calls for a division. The members leave their seats and pass into the lobbies through «Aye» (yes) or «No» doors thus showing which way they are voting. Two tellers one on each side count the votes as the MPs go through the doors and secretaries put down their names. Before the lobby doors close, a bell rings throughout the House six minutes to enable MPs, wherever they may be in the House, to vote. Party «Whips* stand outside the door of the lobby into which they expect their MPs to pass. Unless it is a free vote, members who ignore party policy risk the strong dis­pleasure of the party leadership. Because of this Brit­ish parliamentary system has been termed by a long-serving member of both Houses a form of «elective dictatorship*.

When the numbers have been taken the members return to their seats and the Speaker (Lord Chancellor) reads out the results of the voting. If the bill has a majority of votes it has passed the second reading. It is then usually sent to a committee for detailed, clause by clause, word by word examination. Large committee rooms on the upper floor of the Westminster Palace (the Committee Corridor) constitute one of the busiest parts of the palace. After days or weeks in the Committee the bill then comes back to the House. When the committee reports to the House the conclusion of its work, there may be further discussion. On the Third reading the final text of the bilj^ — perhaps rather different from that originally printed — is then approved or rejected. After that the bill goes through the same stages in the House of Lords. There it can be delayed but not rejected. Then it returns to the House of Commons and if the Commons accept the amendments, if there are any, the bill is ready for its last stage, the final approval, given on behalf of the Queen. Her signature will enact the bill, that is — turn it into an Act of Parliament. Royal assent has not been refused since 1707.

Besides the Government bills, there are Opposition and private Members' bills. Any MP has the right to propose his bill. Mostly they are business bills. Only 10 days in each session are allowed for the debates on these bills. And those 10 days are Fridays, short working days. So putting forward private bills is not encouraged. There are twenty opposition days each session which allow the opposition to choose the subject for debate.

Parliament is not only a low-making body, it is also a low-enforcing body, that is it has judicial functions. The main judicial work of Parliament today is that carried out daily by the House of Lords. This House serves as the final Court of Appeal for Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Appeals may be heard either in the Chamber of the House or in an Appellate Committee. Judgement is always given in the House itself — normally at a morning sitting specially held for this purpose. Only peers who hold or have held high judicial office sit to hear appeals, and they are sometimes presided over by the Lord Chancellor, who is head of the English judicial system.

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