Amendments superseding a question

21.32Presenting the House with a different proposition as an alternative to the original question may be effected by moving to omit all or most of the words of the question after the first word ‘That’ and to substitute an alternative proposition. That alternative must, however, be relevant to the subject of the question. The debate that follows also covers the content of the motion, with the House considering the alternative propositions.

With amendments of this type, the proposal of the question ‘That the amendment be made’ effectively places before the House two alternative propositions, contained in the motion and in the amendment respectively, between which the House has to make a preliminary choice before deciding finally whether to agree to either of them. Consequently, if the question ‘That the amendment be made’ is agreed to, this vote does not by itself express a decision on the motion, but only a preference for the alternative proposition contained in the amendment, and a further decision must be made on whether the motion, as amended, is agreed to.

An amendment intended to supersede a question, by leaving out the words after ‘That’ and adding other words, should not be a mere negation of the terms of the motion. An alternative must be presented. The proper method of expressing a contrary opinion is by voting against a motion without seeking to amend it.