How a Bill becomes law
Early Day Motions are a way for MPs to get support for an issue but they have no legal status at all. The vast majority are never debated and at the end of each parliament they disappear. Legislation is brought about by presenting Bills (draft laws) to Parliament for discussion.
Most major Bills are introduced by Ministers on behalf of Government, apart from Private Members' Bills (see above). Bills go through the following stages:
House of Commons (Bills can also start in the House of Lords and then move to the Commons)
First reading: The title of the Bill is read out to Parliament, and the Bill is printed.
Second reading: Main opportunity to debate the Bill, and to challenge the principle of the Bill through a division.
Committee Stage: Chance to debate and vote on detail, clause by clause, usually by a Standing Committee of 16-50 members in proportion to overall party strengths
Report Stage: Further chance to consider amendments and new clauses and for MPs not on the Committee to propose changes
Third Reading: Final chance to debate the Bill and to vote. It then moves to the House of Lords, where it goes through a similar process (or to the Commons if it started in the Lords).
Consideration of Amendments: Each House considers the other's amendments and if there is contention the Bill passes back and forth until agreement is reached. If this cannot be achieved the Bill is lost. Bills with agreed amendments then await the:
Royal Assent: Queen's assent formally notified to both Houses and the Bill becomes an Act (law).
Find out more about the parliamentary procedure at
from which this information was taken