Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP

Laws have to be agreed by both the House of Commons (the elected chamber) and the House of Lords (the appointed chamber). However, the Commons does have reserve powers which can be invoked eventually if the Lords cannot agree. When proposed new laws are presented to parliament they are called "Bills". Once they are agreed they become "Acts". Any Bill goes through the following stages:

• 1st Reading
• 2nd Reading
• Committee Stage
• Report Stage
• 3rd Reading

Once these stages are complete the Bill passes to the House of Lords where the whole process begins again.

If there is agreement, the Bill becomes an Act. If not, the Bill passes back and the amendments from the other House must be considered. This process continues until there is agreement or until the Commons invokes the Parliament Act that allows them to have the final say as the elected chamber.

STAGES - in more detail

1st Reading
The Bill is brought to the attention of the House for the first time. The name of the Bill is read out and the date of the 2nd Reading announced.

2nd Reading
By now, the Bill has been printed so MPs can see its' full extent. There is usually a debate on the general principles of the Bill rather than the detail. If it is opposed a vote will be taken and if passed the Bill moves to Committee Stage.

Committee Stage
Having successfully passed the 2nd Reading stage, a committee of MPs is formed to scrutinise the Bill in great detail. This happens upstairs in one of the many committee rooms. The Bill can be amended and changed quite radically and for many pieces of legislation this is where the real work is done. There will be several Bills in committee at the same time.

Report Stage
The committee will present their Bill back to the full Commons at Report Stage. This gives all MPs the chance to discuss the merits of the Bill as it now stands and new amendments can be made at this stage. Once they are agreed the Bill moves to 3rd Reading.

3rd Reading
After much discussion and probably many changes there is a final version, presented for final approval. This is called the 3rd Reading. The Bill cannot be amended at this time but there can be a vote and often there is.

If all those hurdles are cleared the Bill is then sent down the corridor for their Lordships to go through the same stages.