How to start an argument in Parliament

Today the BBC reports that the campaign group Hacked Off* has published the 'Leveson Bill' - a draft bill written up by Hacked Off's Chair Hugh Tomlinson QC.

Obviously, this isn't actually a Parliamentary Bill yet - it's just a suggestion written up by a campaign organisation "put forward for consultation", perhaps with a view to it eventually being introduced in similar form in either the House of Commons or the House of Lords.

However the BBC went on to say:

"As well as MPs, organisations and private individuals are able to introduce Parliamentary bills."

Except they aren't. Exactly. Hacked Off can't introduce their draft bill to either the House of Commons or House of Lords (where all Bills must start) any more than you or Full Fact can write your own 'suggestion' and introduce it as a Bill.

The Bill is a prospective Public Bill, which means that aims to "change the law as it applies to the general population." For it to be debated in Parliament, it would have to be introduced either by the government itself, or by an MP or Peer.

But the BBC's report would likely make a reader think it is possible for virtually anyone to introduce a Bill like the Leveson Bill to Parliament.

It's probable the news broadcaster took its wording from somewhere else on the Parliament website:

"Different types of Bills can be introduced by:

• The government
• Individual MPs or Lords
• Private individuals or organisations"

But private individuals and organisations can only promote one specific, and arcane, type of Bill - namely a Private Bill. As Parliament's website explains, "Private Bills only change the law as it applies to specific individuals or organisations, rather than the general public."

They can be "promoted" by organisations to give themselves powers beyond general laws and they follow different procedures to ordinary public laws. Almost all the Private Bills currently before Parliament concern the powers of various local authorities.

So they're a very different species to the kind of Bill Hacked Off has drafted, and any Bill anyone else cares to draft on the matter.

We got in touch with the BBC this morning via their corrections service to point out that readers may well be misled by their article as to how parliamentary bills work. At time of writing, the article remains unchanged.

We're hoping the matter will be cleared up as soon as possible.

* Disclosure

Full Fact's Director Will Moy is also a Board Member of the Hacked Off campaign.