The Division Bell is used to describe a call to the house of parliament in the Australian and British legal systems. When a major decision has to be made (e.g. the acceptance, or rejection of a new bill), the division bell is rung. All the members of parliament eligible to vote then rush from their chambers into the house (the place where parliament runs) to cast their votes. When the division bell stops, the doors to the house are closed, and no one else is admitted until the vote is cast.

It's called the division bell because once within the house those for and against physically move to different sides of the house.

Politicians take this seriously. For example, Mark Latham, a young Australian politician was recently caught when the division bell rang with his baby under his care. He couldn't find anyone to take care of the baby, so he took the baby with him.

The title 'The Division Bell' was an idea of Douglas Adams, who had been friends of various member of Pink Floyd for years.

After being asked by David Gilmour to work on some of the lyrics on the album, Adams was approached by Gilmour to see if Adams had any suggestions for the title of the album, which was needed in a hurry. In exchange for a £5,000 contribution to the Environmental Investigation Agency, one of Adams favourite charities, he suggested 'The Division Bell'

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.