By tradition, the British Sovereign does not enter the Chamber of the House of Commons. The last monarch to enter the Chamber was King Charles I (in 1642); he sought to arrest five Members of Parliament on charges of high treason. When the King asked the Speaker, William Lenthall, if he had any knowledge of the whereabouts of these individuals, Lenthall famously replied: "May it please your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place but as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here."
According to the old tradition the elected Speaker is expected to show unwillingness to be chosen; he or she is usually "dragged" by colleagues to the Chair. In the past the Speaker, as a representative of the Commons, was required to bear bad news to the Sovereign.
Churchill’s Statue at the entrance of the House.
Prayers
Each sitting in both Houses begins with prayers that follow the Christian faith. In the Commons the Speaker s Chaplain usually reads the prayers.
Catching the Speaker s eye
To participate in a debate in the House of Commons or at question time, MPs have to be called by the Speaker. MPs usually rise or half-rise from their seats in a bid to get the Speaker s attention -" this is known as 'catching the Speaker's eye'.
Monarch in Parliament. Functions
The Monarch
The prerogative powers include among others t he abilities to dissolve Parliament, make treaties, declare war, and award honours. In practice these are always exercised by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister a nd the other ministers of the government.
The Queen personifies the State. The Queen today is only a formal ruler and does not actually govern: nowadays monarchs reign but do not rule.
The Functions of the Queen:
· Head of the executive and of the judiciary branches
· an integral part of the legislature
· commander-in-chief of all armed forces of the Crown
· the Head of the established Church of England
· she appoints office holders, judges, governors, bishops, diplomats
· confers all peerages, knighthoods and other honours.
· appoints the Prime Minister
· in international affairs the Queen has the power to declare war and make peace, to recognise foreign states, to conclude treaties.
· Performs ceremonial duties
The ambassadorial role of the Queen and the other members of the royal family is very important.
How a bill becomes a Law
Most bills begin life in the House of Commons, where they go through the following stages:
1. The First reading: This is a formality; no vote occurs. The Bill is presented to the house, the date is set for the second reading. The bill is ordered to be printed.
2. The Second reading: A debate and a discussion on the general principles of the bill. The second reading debate is a general and wide-ranging discussion of the principles and scope of the Bill. Usually the debate lasts for one day - about six hours in practice - though MPs sometimes debate complex and controversial measures for two or three days.
Ministers and their Opposition counterparts make the opening and closing speeches. The rest of the debate consists of speeches by backbench MPs from each side of the House. MPs with a special interest in the subject contribute, as do MPs whose constituencies are affected by the Bill.
If the Bill is at all controversial, the debate concludes with a Division, or vote. It is very rare for a Government Bill to be defeated at second reading. As the Bill represents government policy, the government's MPs can virtually always be relied on to support it.
The Bill must then proceed to the Committee Stage.
3. The Committee stage: the bill is studied in detail by committees. Committees can make amendments. Chance to debate and vote on the detail, clause by clause.
Amendments selected by the Chairman (advised by a clerk).
All Bills go to one of four Committee types:
1) Committee of the Whole House—for constitutional Bills and parts of the Finance Bill;
2) Public Bill Committee—most usual procedure; 16-50 MPs, in proportion to overall party strengths.
3) Select Committee (infrequently used).
4) A committee considering Government Bills has powers to send for persons, papers and records; holds up to four extra sittings when it can hear oral evidence in private and public.
The committee stage is a detailed, clause-by-clause examination of the content of the Bill. This is normally carried out by a specially-appointed standing committee of 18 to 25 MPs, selected in line with party strengths in the Commons.
The Minister responsible for the Bill and his or her opposition counterparts are always members, and occasionally junior ministers as well. There are two Whips (MPs who ensure their colleagues vote with the party leadership), one each from the government and opposition parties. The remaining members are backbenchers from each side of the House, often with special expertise or interest in the subject concerned.
This stage can take anything from a single meeting to several months. On a major Government Bill the standing committee will meet at least ten or twelve times over about six weeks. A senior backbencher - not necessarily from the ruling party - chairs the committee and remains impartial during the discussions. For lengthy Bills, two backbenchers (one from each side of the House) are often appointed to chair the committee. The job of a standing committee is to discuss and approve every clause of the Bill. It does not debate its overall scope and purpose. Discussion is usually based on amendments to individual clauses. Any member of the committee may propose an amendment. The Opposition, or backbenchers from either side of the House, may want to alter a specific part of the Bill; the government may respond to improvements suggested during the second reading debate, or to arguments submitted by outside organisations or interest groups, and decide to make changes itself.
Since MP's usually vote with their parties, the government's built-in majority ensures that usually only those amendments acceptable to it are passed. On the whole, these consist of second thoughts by the government, technical amendments such as improvements to the wording, and minor concessions on detail. Significant changes can only be made if opposition members combine with backbenchers who disagree with their government. Sometimes, the committee stage is taken 'on the floor' in a 'Committee of the Whole House', enabling every MP to take part in the discussion. This time-consuming procedure is usually only used for some parts of the annual Finance Bill and for Bills dealing with major constitutional questions. A Bill that needs to be passed urgently will be sent to a Committee of the Whole House, to avoid spending time setting up a standing committee. It is possible to split a Bill, so that some provisions are dealt with in Committee of the Whole House, with the remainder going to a standing committee.
Once the Bill has passed through this rigorous process, it can move on to the report stage.
4. The Report stage: the committee gives a report on the bill which it has studied. It also points out the amendments which were made.
This stage (also known as 'the Consideration') is a detailed examination of the Bill as amended in committee. This time, all MPs can take part in the discussion. Fresh amendments and clauses are discussed and voted on. Many of these are introduced by the government in response to commitments made during the committee stage. Amendments already rejected in committee are not normally discussed again. The report stage can last from a few minutes to several days.
The Bill then goes back to the floor of the House of Commons for the third reading.
5. The Third reading: a debate on the final text of the bill is held.
after that the bill is sent to the House of Lords, where it goes through the same stages.
If the Lords make new amendments, these will be considered by the Commons. A Bill may pass to and from different houses several times at this stage, as each House amends or rejects changes proposed by the other But the Lords by convention pass the financial bills without amendments. They can only delay these bills for a month. All the rest of the bills they can delay for a period of almost a year.
After both Houses have reached agreement, the bill receives the royal assent and becomes an Act of Parliament. (it has been conventional since the time of William and Mary (1689-94)that the monarch will assent to all legislation passed by Parliament. Queen Anne was the last monarch to refuse Royal Assent to a bill – 1707)
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