THE WORK OF PARLIAMENT 153

so that more Bills could be considered at once. Report. The Bill,
as amended by the Committee, is reported to the House who
can now consider each clause and suggest further amendments.
This .ensures that the Bill, in its final form, represents the
opinion of all Members and not only of the Committee. It
sometimes happens that the Minister in charge of a Bill agrees
with criticisms made in Committee but cannot immediately
frame the necessary amendments; he has an opportunity to
introduce them at the Report stage. Third Reading. This is a
final debate on the Bill; it does not, as a rule, take much time,
though Amendments can still be introduced.

"Another Place99.1 It has been assumed throughout this
description that the Bill starts in the. Commons. In fact, a Bill
may be introduced in either House, save that Money Bills must
start in the Commons, and Law Bills, dealing with the intricacies
of the legal system, usually start in the Lords* When a Bill has
passed one House it must go through the same stages in the
other. Consideration in the Lords is quicker; the Committee
stage is usually handled by a Committee of the Whole House,
though a small Standing Committee often revises the wording
of Bills. If one House inserts amendments which the other
dislikes, the Bill may go to and fro between the Houses twice
or even more often; then perhaps one House will give way;
or a conference of representatives of the two may be held, to
reach a compromise; or the Bill may be dropped; or, if it is a
Commons Bill, the help of the Parliament Act may be invoked.

Royal Assent. Once through both Houses, the Bill is sure
to become law. If it is urgent it will be presented for the Royal
Assent at once, but usually Bills are presented in batches at
the end of a Session or before a holiday adjournment. The
Assent is given, by Lords Commissioners holding a Commission^
authorising them to do so, in the Norman-French words Le
Roy le veult (the King wishes it). The ceremony is held in the

1 The phrase used by a person speaking in. ons House of
and referring to the other.