Electoral Administration Bill

We appear to be not declaring interests. I think I shall not declare an interest apart from the usual, very small, contributions that one makes to one’s political party. All political parties face challenges in raising money. From what the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, said, I know that he would not for a moment wish to imply, by tabling this proposal, that the Liberal Democrat Party was somehow outside and above the difficult questions involved—as, indeed, recent events have shown. It is appropriate for all parties to move in parallel and through the medium of the discussions proposed by the Government in response to last week’s very distressing events which have troubled so many on all sides, in this House and elsewhere. I take the opportunity to make it clear, once again, that the Conservative Party has said that it will implement the recommendations of the Electoral Commission and voluntarily disclose the details—including the source—of any future loan agreement that the party enters into. Indeed, we have gone further than this and outlined a package of proposals for the reform of party funding. This includes a proposal to ban all forms of loans to parties, except from financial institutions on fully commercial terms. We have made it clear that we believe it is the shared responsibility of all political leaders to ensure clean politics in this country. We believe it is vital that all parties work together in a non-partisan way to deal with the issue of party funding and that, rather than rushing measures through to reform party funding, any proposal should be well thought through. The Conservative Party has no difficulty with the objectives of these amendments—indeed, it shares them—but it would be far better to take further time to reflect on these and any other proposals and return to them, as the Minister has promised, when the Bill is considered again at the Report stage. The Minister has undertaken that these clauses will be considered under committee rules on Report—we welcome that—and she has confirmed those arrangements today.