Motions in United Kingdom

Motions to take note Meaning, as used in the UK Parliament

In the House of Lords, debates may take place on a motion “That this House takes note of…” This formula enables the House to debate a situation or a document without coming to any positive decision and is regularly used for select committee reports. Motions to take note are also used when a minister wishes to put down a neutral motion. Such motions are usually agreed to.

Resources

See Also

• Motions

Further Reading

Guillotine motions Meaning, as used in the UK Parliament

Allocation of time or ‘guillotine’ motions have been used by governments to limit the amount of time that Members of the Parliament can spend debating a particular stage of a Bill in the House of Commons. In recent years these have been replaced by Programme motions which set out a more detailed timetable for each stage of a Government Bill in the Commons and are moved as soon as a Bill has passed its Second reading.

There is no equivalent in the House of Lords where the government cannot limit debating time.

Resources

See Also

• Programme motions

Further Reading

Motions Meaning, as used in the UK Parliament

A motion is a proposal put forward for debate or decision in the House of Commons or House of Lords. A motion must be proposed (moved) before any debate or vote can take place in Parliament.