Editing Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 (section)

==Parliament Act 1911==
{{main|Parliament Act 1911}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
|short_title = Parliament Act 1911
|type       = Act
|year       = 1911
|parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
|long_title = An Act to make provision with respect to the powers of the House of Lords in relation to those of the House of Commons, and to limit the duration of Parliament.
|statute_book_chapter = [[1 & 2 Geo. 5]]. c. 13
|introduced_by =
|territorial_extent = United Kingdom
|royal_assent = 18 August 1911
|commencement = 18 August 1911
|repeal_date =
|amendments = [[Parliament Act 1949]]
|related_legislation =
|repealing_legislation =
|status = Amended
|original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/1-2/13/enacted
|legislation_history =
|revised_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/1-2/13
}}
===Background===
[[File:David Lloyd George c1911.jpg|thumb|right|[[David Lloyd George]]]]

The 1911 Act was a reaction to the clash between the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] government and the House of Lords, culminating in the so-called "[[People's Budget]]" of 1909. In this [[United Kingdom budget|Budget]], the [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] [[David Lloyd George]] proposed the introduction of a [[land tax]] based on the ideas of the American [[tax]] reformer [[Henry George]].<ref name="newstatesman">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/200409200008|title=A revolutionary who won over Victorian liberals |magazine=New Statesman|author=Tristram Hunt|date=20 September 2004|access-date=6 October 2006}}</ref> This new tax would have had a major effect on large landowners, and was opposed by the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] opposition, many of whom were large landowners themselves. The Conservatives believed that money should be raised through the introduction of [[tariff]]s on [[imports]], which they claimed would help British industry. Contrary to British constitutional convention, the Conservatives used their large majority in the Lords to vote down the Budget. The Liberals made reducing the power of the Lords an important issue of the [[January 1910 general election]].<ref name="liberalhistory">{{cite web|url=http://www.liberalhistory.org.uk/item_single.php?item_id=46&item=history |title=1909 People's Budget |publisher=Liberal Democrat History Group |access-date=6 October 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060930235610/http://www.liberalhistory.org.uk/item_single.php?item_id=46&item=history |archive-date=30 September 2006 }}</ref><!--this could be called partisan at a push-->

The Liberals returned in a [[hung parliament]] after the election:<ref name="oup">{{cite web|url=http://www.oup.co.uk/pdf/0-19-829812-9.pdf|title=Government Formation from a Hung Parliament|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=8 October 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051102083925/http://www.oup.co.uk/pdf/0-19-829812-9.pdf|archive-date=2 November 2005}}</ref> their call for action against the Lords had energised believers in hereditary principle to vote for the Conservatives, but had failed to generate much interest with the rest of the voting public.{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}} The Liberals formed a [[minority government]] with the support of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] and Irish nationalist MPs. The Lords subsequently accepted the Budget. However, as a result of the dispute over the Budget, the new government introduced resolutions (that would later form the Parliament Bill) to limit the power of the Lords.<ref name="reform">{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld199798/ldbrief/ldreform.htm|title=Reform and Proposals for Reform Since 1900|publisher=House of Lords|date=19 April 2000|access-date=6 October 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060718215305/http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld199798/ldbrief/ldreform.htm|archive-date=18 July 2006}}</ref> The Prime Minister, [[H. H. Asquith]], asked King [[Edward VII]] to create sufficient new Liberal [[Peerage|peers]] to pass the Bill if the Lords rejected it. The King said he would not be willing to do so unless Asquith obtained a clear mandate for such sweeping change by winning a second general election.

The Lords voted this 1910 Bill down. Edward VII had died in May 1910, but his son [[George V]] agreed to grant Asquith a second general election in [[December 1910 United Kingdom general election|December 1910]] (this also resulted in a minority government), and at the time he agreed that, if necessary, he would create <!--can't ref the exact figure:250--> hundreds of new Liberal peers to neutralise the Conservative majority in the Lords.<ref name="noten">{{cite web|url=http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page140.asp |title=Herbert Henry Asquith 1908–16 Liberal |publisher=10 Downing Street |access-date=10 October 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060925213950/http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page140.asp |archive-date=25 September 2006 }}</ref> The Conservative Lords then backed down, and on 10 August 1911, the House of Lords passed the Parliament Act by a narrow 131–114 vote,<ref name="reformbackground">{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/jt200203/jtselect/jtholref/17/1710.htm |title=Joint Committee on House of Lords Reform First Report – Appendix 1: Historical Background |publisher=The Stationery Office |date=11 December 2002 |access-date=11 October 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930023520/http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/jt200203/jtselect/jtholref/17/1710.htm |archive-date=30 September 2007 }}</ref> with the support of some two dozen Conservative peers and eleven of thirteen [[Lords Spiritual]].

The Parliament Act was intended as a temporary measure. The preamble states:

{{quote|whereas it is intended to substitute for the House of Lords as it at present exists a Second Chamber constituted on a popular instead of hereditary basis, but such substitution cannot be immediately brought into operation.<ref name="1911text">{{cite web|url=http://www.swarb.co.uk/acts/1911ParliamentAct.shtml|title=Text of Parliament Act 1911|publisher=Lawindexpro|date=3 January 2006 |access-date=6 October 2006}}</ref>}}

One of the reasons for the [[Irish Parliamentary Party]] MPs' support for the Parliament Act, and the bitterness of the [[Unionism in Ireland|Unionist]] resistance, was that the loss of the Lords' veto would make possible [[Irish Home Rule]] (i.e. a [[devolved]] legislature).{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} The previous Liberal government's attempt to initiate Irish Home Rule had been vetoed by the House of Lords in 1893: at the time of his retirement in 1894, [[William Ewart Gladstone]] had not attracted sufficient support from his colleagues for a battle with the House of Lords.<!--refs?--> The Parliament Act resulted in the eventual enactment of the Irish Home Rule [[Government of Ireland Act 1914]]. {{Citation needed|date=July 2011}}

[[File:Passing of the Parliament Bill, 1911 - Project Gutenberg eText 19609.jpg|thumb|350px|Passing of the Parliament Bill, 1911, from the drawing by S. Begg]]

===Provisions===
The Act abolished any power of the House of Lords to [[veto]] any [[public Bill]] introduced in the House of Commons<ref>Sections 1 (money bills) and 2 (other public bills)</ref> other than a bill containing any provision to extend the maximum duration of Parliament beyond five years<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/1-2/13/section/2 |title=Section 2(1) |publisher=Legislation.gov.uk |access-date=12 September 2011}}</ref> or a Bill for confirming a [[provisional order]].<ref>Section 2(1) as read with [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/1-2/13/section/5 section 5]</ref> The Act does not affect Bills introduced in the House of Lords,<ref name="pnote"/> [[private bill]]s,<ref name="pnote"/> or [[Delegated legislation in the United Kingdom|delegated legislation]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bradley |first1=A. W. |last2=Ewing |first2=K. D. |title=Constitutional and Administrative Law |edition=12th |publisher=Longmans |year=1997 |isbn=0-582-41443-1 |page=214}}</ref>

The effect of the Act is that the House of Lords can delay those bills that it could formerly veto. If they have been sent up to the House of Lords at least one month before the end of the session, [[money bill]]s can be delayed for up to one month after being sent up, and other bills can be delayed for up to one year after being sent up. The period for which bills other than money bills could be delayed was originally two years.<ref name="pnote"/> The [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker]] was given the power to certify which bills are classified as money bills.

====Section 1: Powers of House of Lords as to money bills====
Section 1(1) provides:

{{Blockquote|If a Money Bill, having been passed by the House of Commons, and sent up to the House of Lords at least one month before the end of the session, is not passed by the House of Lords without amendment within one month after it is so sent up to that House, the Bill shall, unless the House of Commons direct to the contrary, be presented to His Majesty and become an Act of Parliament on [[royal assent]] being signified, notwithstanding that the House of Lords have not consented to the Bill.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/1-2/13/section/1 |title=Parliament Act 1911 |publisher=Legislation.gov.uk |access-date=12 September 2011}}</ref>}}

The word "month" means calendar month.<ref>[[Interpretation Act 1978]], section 5 and Schedule 1</ref>

Section 1(2) defines the expression "[[money bill]]".

Section 1(3) provides:

{{Blockquote|There shall be endorsed on every Money Bill when it is sent up to the House of Lords and when it is presented to His Majesty for assent the certificate of the Speaker of the House of Commons signed by him that it is a Money Bill. Before giving his certificate the Speaker shall consult, if practicable, two members to be appointed from the [[Chairmen's Panel]] at the beginning of each Session by the [[Committee of Selection (House of Commons)|Committee of Selection]].}}

====Section 2: Restriction of the powers of the House of Lords as to bills other than money bills====
This section originally provided that a bill to which this section applied which was rejected by the House of Lords would be presented for royal assent if it was passed by the Commons in three successive sessions, provided that two years had elapsed between [[second reading]] of the bill and its final passing in the Commons, notwithstanding that the Lords had not consented to the bill.

[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo6/12-13-14/103/section/1 Section 1] of the Parliament Act 1949 provides that the Parliament Act 1911 has effect, and is deemed to have had effect from the beginning of the session in which the bill for the Parliament Act 1949 originated (save as regards that bill itself), as though sections 2(1) and (4), of Parliament Act 1911, read as they are printed in the following revised text of section 2 of that Act:

{{Blockquote|(1) If any Public Bill (other than a Money Bill or a Bill containing any provision to extend the maximum duration of Parliament beyond five years) is passed by the House of Commons [in two successive sessions] (whether of the same Parliament or not), and, having been sent up to the House of Lords at least one month before the end of the session, is rejected by the House of Lords in each of those sessions, that Bill shall, on its rejection [for the second time] by the House of Lords, unless the House of Commons direct to the contrary, be presented to His Majesty and become an Act of Parliament on royal assent being signified thereto, notwithstanding that the House of Lords have not consented to the Bill:

Provided that this provision shall not take effect unless [one year has elapsed] between the date of the second reading in the first of those sessions of the Bill in the House of Commons and the date on which it passes the House of Commons [in the second of these sessions.]

(2) When a Bill is presented to His Majesty for assent in pursuance of the provisions of this section, there shall be endorsed on the Bill the certificate of the Speaker of the House of Commons signed by him that the provisions of this section have been duly complied with.

(3) A Bill shall be deemed to be rejected by the House of Lords if it is not passed by the House of Lords either without amendment or with such amendments only as may be agreed to by both Houses.

(4) A Bill shall be deemed to be the same Bill as a former Bill sent up to the House of Lords in the preceding session if, when it is sent up to the House of Lords, it is identical with the former Bill or contains only such alterations as are certified by the Speaker of the House of Commons to be necessary owing to the time which has elapsed since the date of the former Bill, or to represent any amendments which have been made by the House of Lords in the former Bill in the preceding session, and any amendments which are certified by the Speaker to have been made by the House of Lords [in the second session] and agreed to by the House of Commons shall be inserted in the Bill as presented for royal assent in pursuance of this section:

Provided that the House of Commons may, if they think fit, on the passage of such a Bill through the House [in the second session,] suggest any further amendments without inserting the amendments in the Bill, and any such suggested amendments shall be considered by the House of Lords, and, if agreed to by that House, shall be treated as amendments made by the House of Lords and agreed to by the House of Commons; but the exercise of this power by the House of Commons shall not affect the operation of this section in the event of the Bill being rejected by the House of Lords.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/1-2/13/section/2 |title=Parliament Act 1911 |publisher=Legislation.gov.uk |access-date=12 September 2011}}</ref>}}

The words in square brackets are those substituted by section 1 of the Parliament Act 1949.

Before it was repealed in 1986, the proviso to section 1 of the Parliament Act 1949 read:

{{Blockquote|Provided that, if a Bill has been rejected for the second time by the House of Lords before the signification of the Royal Assent to the Bill for this Act, whether such rejection was in the same session as that in which the Royal Assent to the Bill for this Act was signified or in an earlier session, the requirement of the said section two that a Bill is to be presented to His Majesty on its rejection for the second time by the House of Lords shall have effect in relation to the Bill rejected as a requirement that it is to be presented to His Majesty as soon as the Royal Assent to the Bill for this Act has been signified, and, notwithstanding that such rejection was in an earlier session, the Royal Assent to the Bill rejected may be signified in the session in which the Royal Assent to the Bill for this Act was signified.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo6/12-13-14/103/section/1 |title=Parliament Act 1949 |publisher=Legislation.gov.uk |access-date=12 September 2011}}</ref>}}

This proviso provided for the application of the Parliament Act 1911 to any bill rejected for the second time by the House of Lords before royal assent was given to the Parliament Act 1949 on 16 December 1949. In a report dated 27 September 1985, the [[Law Commission (England and Wales)|Law Commission]] and the [[Scottish Law Commission]] said that this proviso had never been invoked and was, by that date, incapable of being invoked.<ref>The Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission. Statute Law Revision: Twelfth Report. (Cmnd. 9648). (Law Com 150). (Scot Law Com 99). 1985. p. 91</ref> They recommended that it be repealed.<ref>The Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission. Statute Law Revision: Twelfth Report. (Cmnd. 9648). (Law Com 150). (Scot Law Com 99). 1985. pp. 22 and 91</ref>

====Section 6: Saving for existing rights and privileges of the House of Commons====
This section provides:

{{Blockquote|Nothing in this Act shall diminish or qualify the existing rights and privileges of the House of Commons.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/1-2/13/section/6 |title=Parliament Act 1911 |publisher=Legislation.gov.uk |access-date=12 September 2011}}</ref>}}

The prime minister, [[H. H. Asquith]], said of the clause that became this section:

{{Blockquote|That is to enable us still, when the occasion arises, to approve of particular Amendments made by the House of Lords in regard to which this House may waive its privilege.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1911/apr/11/clause-1-powers-of-house-of-lords-as-to#column_263 |title=Hansard (House of Commons), 11 April 1911, col 263 |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |date=11 April 1911 |access-date=12 September 2011}}</ref>}}

====Section 7: Duration of Parliament====
This section amended the [[Septennial Act 1715]], reducing the maximum duration of any parliament from seven years to five.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/1-2/13/section/7 |title=Parliament Act 1911 |work=legislation.gov.uk |access-date=12 September 2011}}</ref>

The President of the Board of Education, [[Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford|Walter Runciman]], said:

{{Blockquote|The period of five years is chosen with the deliberate object of striking a compromise between, the old triennial Parliament advocated in [[Chartism|Chartist]] days and the seven years' Parliament. Our object in limiting the period to five years is that there may be no risk run of the perils which have been enunciated with great vigour by right hon. and hon. Gentlemen opposite of a Government taking advantage of the powers granted to it under the second Resolution, outliving its welcome, getting completely out of touch with the country, and using its extended period of life, say of six years, for carrying through legislation of which the country does not approve. The five years named in the Resolution will in almost every case mean a four years' Parliament. It means therefore that if a Parliament divided its time in the manner described by the Leader of the Opposition, in the first two years doing the work for which it was returned, and in the second two years looking forward to the election about to come upon it, it would have filled up the whole of the four years' period for which this Resolution provides. Our only object in limiting the period of the duration of Parliament is that the House of Commons shall not get out of touch with the opinion of the electorate.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1910/apr/14/duration-of-pahliament |title=DURATION OF PAHLIAMENT. (Hansard, 14 April 1910) |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |date=14 April 1910 |access-date=12 September 2011}}</ref>}}

This section was repealed by the [[Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011]]<ref>The [[Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011]], section 6(3) and Schedule, paragraph 4</ref> for the United Kingdom<ref>The [[Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011]], section 7(3)</ref> on 15 September 2011,<ref>The [[Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011]], section 7(2)</ref> when parliament was given a [[Fixed-term election|fixed]] five-year term.

===Repeal in Ireland===
This Act was repealed for the [[Republic of Ireland]] on 16 May 1983 by section 1 of, and [http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1983/en/act/pub/0011/sched.html#sched-part4 Part IV] of the Schedule to, the [[Statute Law Revision Act 1983]] (No.11).