Political Parties and Elections Bill

If my noble friend will have a little patience, I shall deal with that. The reason is partly because some of the initial processes in Northern Ireland were not right. For example, Northern Ireland decided to get rid of continuous registration; it got rid of the "carry forward" facility, which we have in our own registration; and it went for annual registration, so that people had to register every year. That caused many problems and contributed considerably to the low level of registration at that time. We do not intend to do that and it does not appear in the Bill. That was one of the fundamental differences between the two systems. The latest figures from the Electoral Commission show that, while registration is not back up to the same level, it is increasing every year as the carry-forward facility and the system of continuous registration have been adopted.