ns 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. Naturally, both the Government and Opposition use this period to reveal the weaknesses of their opponents. A minister and his staff preparing answers should anticipate what questions may be asked. On two afternoons each week the Prime Minister is to answer questions on general policy matters.the Question Time the House of Commons goes on to the main debate of the day to which it can give six or more hours. 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. [19, p.81] process of passing a Bill is the same in the House of Lords as in the House of Commons. On introduction the Bill receives a formal First Reading. The Bill is not printed yet. The Clerk of the House reads out only the short title of the Bill, and the Minister responsible for it names a day for a Second Reading. It is then printed and published.a period of time, which varies between one or several weeks, depending on the nature of the Bill, it may be given a Second Reading as a result of a debate on its general merits or principles. It is then referred to one of the Standing Committees, or, if necessary, to the whole House sitting in Committee (if the House so decides), where each clause in the Bill is considered and voted on.the Bill is submitted for a Third Reading. At this purely formal stage the Bill is reviewed in its final form which includes the amendments made at earlier stages and, if passed, it is sent on from the Commons to the Lords or from the Lords to the Commons, depending on its place of origin , where it enters on the same course again.Bills which have passed through their various parliamentary stages are sent to the Sovereign for Royal Assent (approval), which is automatically given by Royal Commission. After this the Bill becomes law and is known as Act of Parliament. [20, pp.93-94]
Conclusion
up it must be said that the marked strengthening of royal power under the Plantagenet kings late in the 12 th с. and early in the 13 th с. caused dissatisfaction not only among the broad peasant masses but also among all the strata of the ruling class. The succeeding Plantagenet kings squeezed the country dry forgetting about traditional customs, norms and laws and imposing all sorts of taxes on feudal lords and cities alike. The barons were determined to fight the king, so in 1213 they stormed the king «s fortresses with an army of knights leading their vassals. The London top layers supported them and opened the gates of London thus bringing about John the Lackland »s capitulation, and on June 15, 1215 the Great Charter was signed. Most of its articles deal with immunity of the barons and the church possessions; the controlling organ, a committee of 24 barons, was nothing but a weapon in the hands of the baronial oligarchy. Some lim...
