European Union (Referendum) Bill (HL Bill 63 of 2013–14)
European Union (Referendum) Bill (HL Bill 63 of 2013–14) (368 KB , PDF)
The European Union (Referendum) Bill received its third reading in the House of Commons on 29 November 2013 and is due to have its second reading in the House of Lords on 10 January 2014. The Bill is a private member’s bill, introduced into the House of Commons by James Wharton (Conservative MP for Stockton South) and sponsored in the House of Lords by Lord Dobbs.
The Bill makes provision for an in/out referendum on the question of the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union. It also stipulates that such a referendum must be held before 31 December 2017. This Library Note provides background information on the Bill, including a short summary of its key provisions and of the proceedings at second reading and committee stage in the House of Commons. It then examines the debate at report stage in the House of Commons in further detail, before providing a brief summary of the debate at third reading. The Note also contains two short appendices on usage of the Parliament Acts with regard to private members’ bills, and the recent House of Lords Constitution Committee report on the European Union (Referendum) Bill.
European Union (Referendum) Bill (HL Bill 63 of 2013–14) (368 KB , PDF)
While international attention has largely been focused on the Middle East and Ukraine, the civil war in Sudan continues. The UN has characterised the conflict as the “world’s largest hunger crisis”. As peace negotiations stall, concerns are rising not only for the people of Sudan but also about the conflict spreading to neighbouring states.
This briefing provides a summary of a recent report by the international children’s rights charity Save the Children entitled ‘Stop the war on children: Let them live in peace’, as well as UK government policy in this area. It has been prepared ahead of Baroness Anelay of St Johns’ (Conservative) upcoming debate on 12 September 2024 on the government’s assessment of the impact of international conflict on children and the recommendations proposed in Save the Children’s report.
The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and International Committee of the Red Cross (Status) Bill seeks to allow the UK government to treat the CPA and the ICRC in a manner comparable to international organisations of which the UK is a member. This status change would allow the government to confer certain privileges and immunities on the two organisations. A previous version of the bill was introduced in the 2023-24 parliamentary session.
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