Political Parties and Elections Bill

May I, too, express my sadness at the death of Lord Kingsland? He always made calm, rational, accurate and perceptive contributions to debates in the other place and he will be sadly missed by those in all parties there and in this House. The hon. and learned Member for Torridge and West Devon (Mr. Cox) is right that the question is whether there is any difference between the right to vote and the right to donate. If he is right, what is going on here makes a fundamental breach with that principle. However, I think that there is a difference between participating with one's own voice—and counting as one as an elector in an election—and seeking to influence the opinions of other electors through the use of money. They are different things. The principle behind the amendments and the original proposal in the House of Lords is simply that those who seek to distance themselves financially from this country by using their tax status to reduce their tax liability have, by that very act, distanced themselves from monetary participation in politics. That is different from participation as a voter. It seems absolutely crucial to make that distinction, especially as the Government have now introduced proposals—about which I am fairly relaxed—that mean that the rule applies only when the sum of £7,500 is involved. That is a very large donation, in my view. I do not think that there can be any question about whether there is a violation of rights to participate in associations—an article 11 argument—because there should not be any fundamental right to participate in organisations that it costs more than £7,500 to join.