Political Parties and Elections Bill

My Lords, we now turn to the discussions that have taken place over many years about constraint on spending by political parties at both the national and the local levels. In case the Minister feels that this is not a relevant or topical issue, perhaps I may refer to the fact that today UNISON, Britain’s second largest union, has decided not to make any further contributions to the Labour Party for the time being. Therefore, constraint on expenditure by political parties may be more relevant than it was just a few hours ago. Perhaps I should also remind the Minister that, in the last three months recorded by the Electoral Commission, Labour managed to raise £2.8 million but the Conservatives raised £4 million. The Minister may like to comment on that discrepancy and think again about whether implementation of the agreements arrived at during the cross-party talks under the auspices of Sir Hayden Phillips may be more appropriate. Amendments 67 to 73 would, in effect, all implement the concerns and proposals discussed at such length by the Hayden Phillips team. Although spending limits were debated in Grand Committee, the Minister will acknowledge that we have responded in these amendments to some of the criticisms made during that process. We have returned to the amendments proposed in the other place, which more closely reflect the Hayden Phillips proposals. The amendments differ in only one respect: the spending limit that we suggest over a period is £100 million, rather than the £150 million in the Hayden Phillips discussions. That reflects some of the anxieties that have been expressed—not least in the previous debate by the noble Viscount, Lord Tenby, who spoke from professional experience of the marketing and advertising industry—about how much wastage takes place. We believe that it would be reasonable to think of a more modest target, which would also meet some of the anxieties of the public. I do not propose going through all the specifics of the Hayden Phillips proposals, which are directly reflected in the amendments before your Lordships’ House. However, I should like briefly to refer to the conclusions of that team, which I again remind the House reflected the anxieties, concerns and intentions of all three parties and for which, at the time, there was explicit support not only in the Hayden Phillips team but also in the House of Commons. Mr Maude, whose comments I referred to in the previous debate and will not repeat now, was absolutely explicit that the recommendations should be incorporated as soon as possible, while in exchanges during Prime Minister’s Questions in December 2007 the Prime Minister and the leader of the Conservative Party also specifically endorsed the proposal that there should be limits on expenditure. In his summary, Sir Hayden Phillips states: ""I believe there is general agreement that: expenditure on general election campaigns has progressively grown and should now be reduced in line with a new spending control regime to be agreed between the parties; and controls on expenditure by all third parties should be strengthened … This chapter has described the options available to the parties in crafting new controls on spending. To reach a lasting agreement, there needs to be a focused discussion on four key issues: the period over which spending should be limited; the categories of spending which should be limited; the geographical scope of the limits on spending; and, in the light of the nature of an agreed scheme, the amount by which spending should be reduced. But it is clear to me that progress must be made on this point and that a new approach to curbing expenditure is necessary. A comprehensive agreement on party funding should, at a minimum, include within it measures to return to the overall rise in party spending to the trend line as it was before the spike in spending prior to the 2005 general election"." I turn now to a specific issue that again we have modified somewhat from the proposals we put to the Grand Committee; it relates to permissible expenditure. We are clear that at the moment there is a temptation for national parties effectively to interfere with constituency campaigns in a way that is contrary to all the intentions and legislation going right back to the 1883 Act. That temptation relates to specific approaches made to individual electors on behalf of a national campaign and seeks effectively to undermine what is going on in the individual constituency. Many of us who took part in the Grand Committee proceedings have been candidates at various stages. I added up the number of occasions on which I have been a candidate for a county or general election and it is rather a large number, but on every occasion my agent was able to say to me—others will have had this experience—"If you go over the expenditure limit that has been imposed on this constituency, you as the candidate or I as the agent will be in court". It was laid down absolutely and precisely that those who fought a constituency campaign should bear the full legal responsibility for all the money spent on promoting the candidature. However, by means of mailshots directed at individuals—let alone all the other material that can come from a national headquarters—a principle that has been in place for more than a century has been effectively undermined. Therefore, we have included a specific requirement in these amendments that, where national expenditure takes place to promote, effectively, a candidate and his or her party within a constituency directly related to an individual elector’s response, that should be taken into account in relation to the limits on expenditure at the local level. We understand that this is difficult where, for example, billboards are used; in Chester, for example, it might be said that billboards apply to the whole of Cheshire, because people go in and out of the city. However, where unsolicited mail is sent to an individual elector, that undermines what is happening at the local level and the responsibility of the candidate and his or her agent to look after very precisely what expenditure is made on behalf of that candidate. That is included in the eligible expenditure categories within this section. I do not need to say much more at this point. There has been considerable discussion at all stages of the process through your Lordships’ House and some discussion in the other place, but I plead with the Minister to take this seriously. Indeed, perhaps on this occasion he might be permitted a little bit of a partisan approach, as it is his party that is suffering most from this attempt to get around the law on the way in which expenditure is advanced. It has also been the experience in recent years that expenditure during the three weeks or so of the campaign is but part of the total campaign expenditure. That has been the cause of much concern and controversy, certainly in the analysis undertaken by Mr Peter Bradley, the former Member for the Wrekin, who was the unfortunate victim of a huge amount of money being spent in his constituency on behalf of his opponent before the dissolution of the last Parliament. This is an important issue. There has been considerable agreement across the parties, with all three leaders agreeing that something needs to be done on this score. I hope that we will not have yet another example of the St Augustine syndrome: let us all be virtuous, but not yet. I beg to move.