The legislative process

Green	Green paper	Contains the general proposal
Winged	White paper	More detailed proposal are set out after the initial consultations
Dragons	Draft	The proposals are drafted into a bill by government lawyers and then published
Fly	First reading	The bill is usually introduced to the House of Commons. This merely notifies the House of the bill and its subject matter. There is no debate.
Slowly	Second reading	This is the main debate on the principles of the bill, followed by a vote.
Clockwise	Committee stage	A committee between 16 and 50 MPs examines the details of the bill clause by clause and suggests amendments.
Round	Report stage	The committee reports back these amendments to the House.
The	Third Reading	This usually coincides with the report stage and marks the final debate on the bill in its amended form in the House of Commons.
Old	Other house	The bill passes to the ‘other house’ (House of Lords) for similar procedures, although in the committee stage in the lords the whole House acts as a committee.
Ruin	Royal assent	The Monarch gives approval to the bill. This is a formality and is not undertaken by the Queen personally.