If you want to amend a Lords Amendment, or disagree with it, you should keep the following rules in mind:
- any change or alternative suggestion has to be on the same subject as the original Lords Amendment
- you can’t disagree with a Lords Amendment because you don’t think it’s relevant to the bill or because you think it breaks some other rule of order
- in general, you can’t use consideration of Lords Amendments to return to provisions in the bill that have already been agreed by both Houses
If there’s a programme motion and the time allocated for considering the Lords Amendments runs out before decisions have been made on all of them, the Speaker can’t select any amendments to those Lords Amendments, or any consequential amendments or amendments in lieu, for a decision unless they’re moved by a minister. So in practice this means that any amendments submitted by a backbencher to Lords Amendments fall if they’re not reached before the time at which the debate must end.
For more information on the rules for Lords Amendments contact the Clerk of Legislation (phone x3255 or email [pbohoc@parliament.uk].