Electoral Administration Bill

We have had a number of debates about the commercial sale of the electoral register and most of the arguments are, I suspect, well known. The business community says it needs access to where people live to sell their wares, so there is a business case for it. On the other hand, there is the argument about the privacy of the individual who does not want his name and address to be provided. In squaring these two dilemmas in my own conscience, it seems that with the advent of the edited register, the provision for the Mailing Preference Service and the Telephone Preference Service, the consumer has every right not to go on a register on sale. Even if they are on a register on sale, they can opt out of receiving dialled mailings or telephone calls. Therefore, I do not see such a great problem with privacy. Some people may feel there is a benefit of having their name and address known in this way. Believe it or not, some people wish to receive what I might call junk mail and special offers through the post. Companies would not put junk mail through the letter box if it did not lead to the sale of goods. For those reasons, I do not agree with the amendments. There does not seem to be a problem balancing business and privacy, given that somebody does not have to have their name forwarded to anybody else unless they wish to do so.