Political Parties and Elections Bill

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice) for raising the issue in his original amendment, Lord Campbell-Savours for tabling the amendment and winning the vote in the House of Lords, and my right hon. Friends on the Front Bench, who have shown great wisdom in accepting the amendment. They are right to say that it raises practical difficulties, but those are not insuperable. The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 set the test that a donor should be registered for voting purposes, not resident for tax purposes. That was not my preference, but that test was set because it was the simplest. For most people it amounts to the same thing—to be registered, they must be resident in this country. However, it is possible to be registered as an overseas voter, for which I fought hard at the time. Although we should protect the right of UK citizens who live abroad to vote in UK elections for a limited period, it was never intended that that should act as a loophole for people who go abroad to escape tax liabilities to continue to enjoy the right to bankroll British elections. People who go abroad for tax purposes should not interfere in our elections. If they do not pay our taxes, why should they have any part in determining those taxes? The right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood) cited the American slogan, "No taxation without representation," and said that the reverse would be unfair—no representation without taxation. We are not arguing for no representation without taxation, but we are arguing that if people do not pay the taxes of the country, there is no reason why they should seek to invest millions of pounds in trying to win the election. Whether money in an election works or not—I have written a book on the subject—is not the point. It is clearly intended that it should, and sometimes, clearly, it does.