UK Parliament / Open data

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

I do not want to engage in an exchange across the Chamber of the kind that we have just had. I respect the hon. Gentleman's opinions, but it seems that we are talking about a central, small part of an issue: what constitutes British citizenship? It is not as defined in 1947 any more, and there has been a whole series of extensions to that definition. Now, European—not British—citizens can determine how local taxes are arranged in the borough or elsewhere. This is a question that would, frankly, have been startling to many people, certainly when I first came to the House. The numbers are huge: 3 million new British citizens have been created since 1997, and I do not see them returned on the electoral register. It has not leapt by that number. I want to assert the essential concepts of citizenship, because the Bill is, in the end, about our citizenship; it is about voting processes and how we elect a Government, and it explores the idea of a five-year mandatory Parliament. However, the essential issue here is who should vote. That is all it is about.

About this proceeding contribution

Reference

516 c702 

Session

2010-12

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber
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