UK Parliament / Open data

Electoral Administration Bill 2005-06

Debate on bills on Wednesday, 11 January 2006, in the House of Commons, led by Baroness Harman. The answering member was Oliver Heald.
Electoral Administration Bill. Report stage; New Clauses 14 and 15 debated and added to the Bill. New Clauses 1, 2 and 5 debated and negatived on division. Amendments made to the Bill. Third reading debate agreed to on question and Bill passed.

About these Parliamentary proceedings

Reference

441 c309-94 

Session

2005-06

Department

Department for Constitutional Affairs

Legislative stage

Third reading and Report stage

Procedure

New clauses

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber

Related items

Electoral Administration Bill. As amended in Standing Committee B.
Thursday, 17 November 2005
Bills
House of Commons
Electoral registration. Government response to the first joint report of session 2004/05 from the Constitutional Affairs and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Select Committees (Constitutional Affairs Committee sixth report and Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Committee sixth report). (HC 243).
Thursday, 21 July 2005
Command papers
House of Commons
Electoral Commission / administration. Minutes of evidence 15 November 2005. (Bound with HC 640-i)
Tuesday, 15 November 2005
Parliamentary committees
House of Commons
Electoral Commission / administration. Minutes of evidence 2 November 2005. (Bound with HC 640-ii)
Wednesday, 2 November 2005
Parliamentary committees
House of Commons

Show all related items (6)

Proceeding contributions

Baroness Harman | 441 c317-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady makes a good point. All hon. Members share the experience of our constituents assuming...
Mark Tami | 441 c317 (Link to this contribution) Is not the truth that the Opposition want to put as many obstacles as possible in the way of people ...

Show all contributions (229)
Baroness Harman | 441 c317 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald), who leads for the Opposition, said that th...
Baroness Harman | 441 c319 (Link to this contribution) There is a further problem, but I shall give way to the hon. Gentleman before I come to that.
Baroness Harman | 441 c318 (Link to this contribution) Under the provisions of the Bill, strengthened by an Opposition amendment, the Electoral Commission ...
Baroness Harman | 441 c319-21 (Link to this contribution) My commentary is not based on wrong information. The Electoral Commission’s proposal, which I shall ...
Angela Watkinson | 441 c321 (Link to this contribution) What is the value of a signature? How can one verify that it is the signature of the person whose na...
Baroness Harman | 441 c321 (Link to this contribution) If someone knew somebody else’s national insurance number or date of birth, they would be able fraud...
James Duddridge | 441 c321 (Link to this contribution) What advice has the Minister taken from perhaps the most expert body of people on fraud prevention a...
Baroness Harman | 441 c321 (Link to this contribution) None, but I shall consider whether I should do so. In conclusion, pilots are a sensible and practic...
David Heath | 441 c319 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. and learned Lady is being uncharacteristically unhelpful to the House in her descript...
David Heath | 441 c319 (Link to this contribution) I am seriously concerned that the Minister does not understand the point of the Electoral Commission...
Baroness Harman | 441 c319 (Link to this contribution) I do not seek to be unfair to the Electoral Commission or to the hon. Gentleman. I am trying to expl...
Oliver Heald | 441 c324 (Link to this contribution) No. My right hon. Friend makes the fair point that we must have arrangements to deal with individual...
Eric Forth | 441 c324 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps my hon. Friend will explain the matter later in his remarks. but I am puzzled by amendment N...
Speaker | 441 c324 (Link to this contribution) Order. This is very lengthy for an intervention.
Oliver Heald | 441 c324 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman did me credit, he would accept that, throughout these proceedings, I have made...
Chris Ruane | 441 c323 (Link to this contribution) There are examples of consensus between the hon. Gentleman and me. He mentioned the importance of da...
Oliver Heald | 441 c323 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that there has not been active canvassing and data matching and other ...
Chris Ruane | 441 c323 (Link to this contribution) I have made constructive proposals. In Committee, I gave specific examples of funding by the 22 loca...
Oliver Heald | 441 c321-3 (Link to this contribution) Let me preface my remarks by thanking the Minister and her colleagues for the courteous and construc...
John Bercow | 441 c326-7 (Link to this contribution) It seems variously and rather curiously to have been suggested that the use of national insurance nu...
Philip Davies | 441 c326 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend accept that it is not simply a matter of getting a result in which people can be...
Oliver Heald | 441 c326 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has made his worries about what happened in Bradford clear to the House, and rightly ...
Oliver Heald | 441 c326 (Link to this contribution) Certainly, my right hon. Friend always has not. We ought to be able to feel that we have a democracy...
Oliver Heald | 441 c325-6 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. We support the central online register of electors. It will...
Angela Watkinson | 441 c325 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that using national insurance numbers and data sharing between local autho...
Oliver Heald | 441 c326 (Link to this contribution) In Northern Ireland, it is done by computer and data matching the two sources. When I was a social s...
Oliver Heald | 441 c325 (Link to this contribution) On the second issue, the Government have tabled amendments to require EROs to provide the necessary ...
Oliver Heald | 441 c311 (Link to this contribution) Is it right to assume any sort of sense of the Government’s attitude to the pilots from new clause 1...
Baroness Harman | 441 c311 (Link to this contribution) The new clause and amendments that I have tabled fill a gap in the Bill as originally drafted. As we...
Speaker | 441 c309-11 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 1—Personal identifiers (absen...
Baroness Harman | 441 c309 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Baroness Harman | 441 c311-2 (Link to this contribution) It is not a matter of the new clause expressing a change in attitude. It simply tidies up the Bill s...
Baroness Harman | 441 c312 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that all-party agreement is always a disastrous trap. Although we must have vigorous ...
Eric Forth | 441 c312 (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister agree that her comments are a good illustration of why matters that are subject to...
Baroness Harman | 441 c312-3 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right. Many of the Government amendments and new clauses emanated from the ...
Oliver Heald | 441 c312 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. and learned Lady accept that with the exception, perhaps, of the issue that we a...
Speaker | 441 c313 (Link to this contribution) Order. Perhaps we can proceed with the debate on the amendments.
Baroness Harman | 441 c313 (Link to this contribution) Let me explain how the pilots will take place. If the Bill receives Royal Assent within the next few...
Baroness Harman | 441 c313 (Link to this contribution) I will answer that when I deal with the relevant amendments tabled by the Conservative Front Bench. ...
Baroness Harman | 441 c315 (Link to this contribution) The answer to that is that it does not follow that an idea that is practical for one system is neces...
Baroness Harman | 441 c314-5 (Link to this contribution) The Bill, as the hon. Gentleman will know, allows us to pilot the use of national insurance numbers ...
Baroness Harman | 441 c314 (Link to this contribution) The commission’s task is to evaluate the pilots and to report to us. It is for the Government to dec...
Philip Davies | 441 c313-4 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. and learned Lady knows of the problems that we have experienced in Bradford with our ...
Baroness Harman | 441 c313 (Link to this contribution) We will have to ensure that we understand the effect of the change in all places, so we will need re...
Andrew Love | 441 c313 (Link to this contribution) I urge my right hon. and learned Friend in the strongest possible terms to ensure that a broad range...
Baroness Harman | 441 c315 (Link to this contribution) I will do so, but I expect the right hon. Gentleman to concede that we cannot simply implant Norther...
Baroness Keeley | 441 c316 (Link to this contribution) We have discussed this on a number of occasions, and that is the advice of the Electoral Commission....
Chris Ruane | 441 c316 (Link to this contribution) May I remind hon. Members that the registration rate for Belfast seats after the changes was 72 per ...
Baroness Harman | 441 c316 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has made a helpful intervention. However, I repeat that it does not follow that an id...
Baroness Harman | 441 c315 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that the right hon. Gentleman heard my point that Northern Ireland’s society is not n...
Baroness Keeley | 441 c316 (Link to this contribution) We have covered this ground on many occasions, but may I remind my right hon. and learned Friend tha...
Baroness Harman | 441 c316 (Link to this contribution) In future, we can pilot a condition requiring people to give their national insurance number before ...
Eric Forth | 441 c315 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to the Minister not only for giving way but for answering the question that I hav...
Lord Tyrie | 441 c393-4 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for what my hon. Friend the Member for Worthing, West (Peter Bottomley) said about ser...
Peter Bottomley | 441 c393 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for telling us that the thrust of the new clause on election observers tabled b...
Jim McGovern | 441 c392-3 (Link to this contribution) I particularly welcome amendments Nos. 59 and 60. I thank the other members of the Committee. I have...
Lord Cormack | 441 c392 (Link to this contribution) We often pass imperfect legislation, but legislation is always improved by proper consultation. I pa...
Lord Young of Cookham | 441 c358-9 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath) said that he did not want to steal my thunder, bu...
David Heath | 441 c357-8 (Link to this contribution) I agree, but there is a much easier test. It would be a mistake to get into the situation in which e...
John Pugh | 441 c357 (Link to this contribution) Surely the case is overwhelming when the letter contains data that are entirely specific to a partic...
David Cairns | 441 c361 (Link to this contribution) We have had an interesting and well-informed debate that has perhaps been more indicative of the way...
Brian Binley | 441 c360-1 (Link to this contribution) I pay tribute to Ministers, because we had a good Committee process and they have tried hard to list...
John Redwood | 441 c359-60 (Link to this contribution) I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for North-West Hampshire (Sir George Young), whose ...
Lord Horam | 441 c359 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend the Member for North-West Hampshire (Sir George Young) said that the new clause...
David Heath | 441 c367 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
David Cairns | 441 c362 (Link to this contribution) I am enjoying it. Metaphors about banging heads against a brick wall come to mind. Questions were a...
David Cairns | 441 c352-3 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. It is relatively easy for us to pass these regulat...
David Heath | 441 c352 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Gentleman knows, we are grateful to him for looking again at this issue. His proposal ce...
David Cairns | 441 c353-4 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has highlighted one of the key issues that remain to be resolved. Whether we talk...
John Redwood | 441 c355 (Link to this contribution) Of course, we used to run our Conservative associations—I guess that the same is true of Labour asso...
Oliver Heald | 441 c354-5 (Link to this contribution) I welcome amendment 63, because it makes a good deal of sense. It would allow the party name to be u...
David Heath | 441 c355-6 (Link to this contribution) I agree that several bouquets should be handed to Ministers in respect of this group of amendments a...
Oliver Heald | 441 c355 (Link to this contribution) That is one of the key issues. Of course, it is not necessarily associations that would have spent s...
David Heath | 441 c356-7 (Link to this contribution) I am very clear. The spending should be counted against the election limits for the specific candida...
Andrew Turner | 441 c356 (Link to this contribution) At the last election, I was privileged to receive a letter from the former leader of the Liberal Dem...
Baroness Harman | 441 c373 (Link to this contribution) We do not normally use consideration of Bills on Report to vote on provisions that simply repeat the...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 441 c372-3 (Link to this contribution) The consensus that the right hon. and learned Lady reasonably seeks on this issue may not actually e...
Diana Johnson | 441 c370-1 (Link to this contribution) That is right. Mr. Hirst, who took the case to the European Court of Human Rights, is a constituent ...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 441 c371 (Link to this contribution) I take the hon. Lady’s perfectly reasonable point, but I happen to disagree with her. I would argue ...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 441 c370 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Lady, because I recall that on Second Reading she made a passionate case...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 441 c370 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I apologise for the delay but I was deferring to the Minister in my u...
David Heath | 441 c369-70 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman may be wide eyed but I doubt that he is bushy tailed or innocent. Let me deal br...
David Heath | 441 c369 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Lady and I hope that she accepts that I agree with her sentiments. Does th...
Peter Bone | 441 c368 (Link to this contribution) I have found the reverse to be true in my constituency. We have a conscientious returning officer wh...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 441 c369 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is not wrong. We tabled amendment (a) to clarify and improve the new clause. Howe...
Speaker | 441 c367 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: Amendment (a) to new clause 2, No. (a), ...
David Heath | 441 c367 (Link to this contribution) I hope that we will resume the consensual approach that we enjoyed during the previous group of amen...
Geraldine Smith | 441 c367-8 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman’s point. My constituency is one of those that he has mentioned—it co...
David Heath | 441 c368 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is absolutely right. It is alarming that electoral registration officers often do not ...
Clive Betts | 441 c391-2 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the Bill, especially the way in which my right hon. Friend the Minister and my hon. Friend...
Baroness Harman | 441 c391 (Link to this contribution) We accept the spirit of the amendments of my right hon. Friend the Member for Walsall, South (Mr. Ge...
David Heath | 441 c391 (Link to this contribution) Again, that is welcome. I made points in Committee that the right hon. Gentleman intended to make to...
Baroness Harman | 441 c387-8 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time. The Bill is an important step in the very ...
Oliver Heald | 441 c388-9 (Link to this contribution) : I join the Minister in thanking all those involved with the Bill on both sides of the House. I par...
Baroness Harman | 441 c375-6 (Link to this contribution) Although I understand that the hon. Lady’s draft is a correct repeat of section 3 of the Representat...
Oliver Heald | 441 c390 (Link to this contribution) I forgot the hon. Gentleman when I was paying my tributes. I apologise, because he has played a very...
David Heath | 441 c390 (Link to this contribution) My odds are 33:1 with a leadership run, which will not happen. I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman f...
David Heath | 441 c390 (Link to this contribution) I add my thanks and congratulations to those that have already been put on the record. I welcomed en...
Baroness Harman | 441 c374 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that new clause 5 exactly repeats the current law, as it does not employ the same sta...
Clive Betts | 441 c374 (Link to this contribution) I want to help the hon. Member for Epping Forest (Mrs. Laing). Is she saying that the existing provi...
Baroness Harman | 441 c374-5 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a very helpful point. He has said that the consideration of new clause 5 is lik...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 441 c375 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. and learned Lady is a very astute lawyer and an eloquent Minister. I appreciate that ...
Philip Davies | 441 c373 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure that I share the right hon. and learned Lady’s absolute confidence that the current la...
Baroness Harman | 441 c373 (Link to this contribution) The law as it affects elections in this country is laid down in electoral legislation passed by this...
Speaker | 441 c374 (Link to this contribution) Order. I think that the hon. Lady is still making an intervention, and that we should perhaps bring ...
Baroness Harman | 441 c374 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Lady for that intervention, and I understand her better now. She is saying that the...
Jim Devine | 441 c374 (Link to this contribution) I seek clarification on this matter. Does my right hon. Friend believe that, in a Division, both sid...
John Redwood | 441 c341 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is quite right, but my hon. Friend the Member for North-East Hertfordshire has though...
James Duddridge | 441 c342-3 (Link to this contribution) I apologise for my personal failing of not being better known and not plugging my constituency multi...
Speaker | 441 c342 (Link to this contribution) Order. I think that the hon. Member for Vale of Clwyd (Chris Ruane) has found the answer to his ques...
Chris Ruane | 441 c342 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Would it be possible to clarify the name and constituency o...
James Duddridge | 441 c342 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for correcting my obvious mistake. I am not an expert on fraud prevention, bu...
James Duddridge | 441 c341-2 (Link to this contribution) It is a great honour to follow my right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood), who touc...
John Redwood | 441 c341 (Link to this contribution) There might be in some places. I began my remarks by saying that I share the concern of the hon. Gen...
Mark Tami | 441 c341 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Gentleman also accept that there is a serious problem of under-registration?
Jeremy Wright | 441 c343-4 (Link to this contribution) I will happily support the new clause tabled by the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath). ...
Mark Tami | 441 c344 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman believes that that is the case, how does he explain the collapse in registrati...
Jeremy Wright | 441 c344 (Link to this contribution) I accept what the hon. Member for Worsley (Barbara Keeley) said. I was present at that hearing, and ...
Speaker | 441 c344 (Link to this contribution) Order. I think that the hon. Lady has taken the hint. An intervention is an intervention. If she has...
Jeremy Wright | 441 c345 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman.
Peter Robinson | 441 c344-5 (Link to this contribution) May I help the hon. Gentleman by clearing up the reason for the fall in registration in Northern Ire...
Oliver Heald | 441 c344 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend will know from his work on the Committee that the Electoral Commission looked at the ...
Jeremy Wright | 441 c344 (Link to this contribution) We would have to look carefully at what other circumstances prevailed at that election.
Baroness Keeley | 441 c344 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is talking about efforts to achieve the safest and most complete electoral system...
Jeremy Wright | 441 c344 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has encapsulated the issue perfectly. We want to achieve the maximum registration of ...
Eric Forth | 441 c337 (Link to this contribution) Oh, he is going to try again—[Interruption.]
Eric Forth | 441 c337 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is correct. We need to make a distinction between the point at which an application i...
Eric Forth | 441 c336 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend reminds me that the overwhelming majority of councils in Wales are run by Labour, and...
John Bercow | 441 c337 (Link to this contribution) It was common ground in our earlier exchanges that relatively few people do not have national insura...
Eric Forth | 441 c337 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend is an eminent lawyer, so he must be right on that point, but I am not sure abou...
Greg Knight | 441 c336-7 (Link to this contribution) If my right hon. Friend looks again at amendment No. 17, he will see it appears to make it incumbent...
Eric Forth | 441 c336 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way first to my right hon. Friend.
James Gray | 441 c340-1 (Link to this contribution) Another problem with national insurance numbers is that a small number of people in the United Kingd...
John Redwood | 441 c339-40 (Link to this contribution) That is another extremely good example, because the hon. Member for Alyn and Deeside (Mark Tami), wh...
Eric Forth | 441 c337-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman gives the answer to his own question, however inadvertently. The fact that we do ...
Chris Ruane | 441 c337 (Link to this contribution) I have no wish to know the right hon. Gentleman’s national insurance number. I hope that he will get...
Eric Forth | 441 c338 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, and one can only guess why that is the case and what the motivation is at Government or loca...
Oliver Heald | 441 c338 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend may wish to comment on the remarks by the electoral commissioner in Birmingham,...
Eric Forth | 441 c338-9 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I was about to come on to Northern Ireland so his intervention ...
Peter Robinson | 441 c338 (Link to this contribution) I apologise for not hearing the beginning of the right hon. Gentleman’s speech, but I was at another...
Oliver Heald | 441 c339 (Link to this contribution) Would my right hon. Friend care to reflect on the form for claiming pension credit, which is 13 page...
John Redwood | 441 c339 (Link to this contribution) I rise to support my hon. Friend the Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) who has correct...
Speaker | 441 c345 (Link to this contribution) Order. Perhaps the hon. Member for Rugby and Kenilworth (Jeremy Wright) would like to indicate to wh...
Chris Ruane | 441 c345 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman is holding up Northern Ireland as a paragon to be copied regarding the securit...
Jeremy Wright | 441 c345 (Link to this contribution) I am giving way, first, to my hon. Friend the Member for North-East Hertfordshire and then to the ho...
Oliver Heald | 441 c345 (Link to this contribution) It has been suggested that the numbers in Northern Ireland fell for an improper reason, but that is ...
Jeremy Wright | 441 c346 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Lady that that is a problem, as I agree with the hon. Member for Vale of Clwyd...
Jeremy Wright | 441 c345-6 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman must decide whether people would not remain on the register if they were invited ...
Geraldine Smith | 441 c346 (Link to this contribution) Surely the problem is not the integrity of the register. In all my years in politics, I have not fou...
Jeremy Wright | 441 c346 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not give way again. I am about to conclude. There is a problem that people who perceive ...
Geraldine Smith | 441 c346 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
David Cairns | 441 c347 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Baroness Harman | 441 c346-7 (Link to this contribution) Much of the ground covered today was covered on Second Reading and in Committee. There was one offer...
Speaker | 441 c348 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following amendments: No. 21, in clause 29, page 33, ...
David Cairns | 441 c348-51 (Link to this contribution) In discussing the new clause, I shall take the opportunity to indicate the Government’s attitude to ...
John Redwood | 441 c351 (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister’s outline proposal mean that only the last three months before an election would b...
David Cairns | 441 c351-2 (Link to this contribution) That is essentially correct. The judgment has been made, however, that money spent closer to an elec...
Rosemary McKenna | 441 c352 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to hear that from my hon. Friend, because there is clear evidence in at least two constit...
David Cairns | 441 c352 (Link to this contribution) I accept my hon. Friend’s valid and legitimate concern. We are trying to address the most serious as...
Eric Forth | 441 c334-5 (Link to this contribution) That is correct. On numerous occasions in everyday life—such as when we apply for passports, driving...
Chris Ruane | 441 c335 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman says that filling in the form is up to individuals, but what happens if peo...
Eric Forth | 441 c335 (Link to this contribution) Very simply, a person in such circumstances should be able to nominate someone who can help them wit...
Chris Ruane | 441 c335 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman mentions a minority of cases. The functional illiteracy rate across the UK ...
Eric Forth | 441 c335 (Link to this contribution) Reasonable provision for dealing with that should be made right across Government. Proper assistance...
Chris Ruane | 441 c335 (Link to this contribution) What assistance does the right hon. Gentleman think should be given?
Eric Forth | 441 c336 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman should probably stop digging at this stage and allow the debate to move on.
Oliver Heald | 441 c336 (Link to this contribution) What sort of councils does Wales have? It has Labour councils.
Eric Forth | 441 c335 (Link to this contribution) That is an amazing indictment of the education system that the hon. Gentleman’s Government have p...
Chris Ruane | 441 c335 (Link to this contribution) I remind the right hon. Gentleman that the majority of people who are 18 plus were educated under a ...
David Heath | 441 c330-1 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman suggests that the view of the Conservative party is different from that of the ri...
Baroness Harman | 441 c331-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman said that I gave factually wrong information on the effect of the Electoral Commi...
Speaker | 441 c332 (Link to this contribution) Order. I know that the right hon. and learned Lady was trying to be helpful, but she really should n...
David Heath | 441 c332-3 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. and learned Lady for her interpretation of the Electoral Commission’...
John Redwood | 441 c333 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman began his remarks by suggesting that my hon. Friend the Member for North-East Her...
David Heath | 441 c333 (Link to this contribution) I do accept that and so does the commission—it calls it a transitional scheme. It is an attempt to w...
Oliver Heald | 441 c333 (Link to this contribution) Of course, there would be two stages in the process: registering the signature and date of birth, an...
David Heath | 441 c333-4 (Link to this contribution) Precisely, and I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for both of those points. He is absolutely right....
Eric Forth | 441 c334 (Link to this contribution) I am not convinced that the Government are serious about this matter. In her usual rather charming m...
John Redwood | 441 c334 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend makes an extremely good point. Has he thought about the following anomaly—that ...
Jeremy Wright | 441 c329 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
David Heath | 441 c329 (Link to this contribution) Yes, but I will not give way repeatedly, because we need to deal with other important parts of the B...
Oliver Heald | 441 c328 (Link to this contribution) The serious point is that many households do not have what could be described as a nuclear family. F...
David Heath | 441 c329 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) sat down rather abruptly and caught me by s...
John Bercow | 441 c330 (Link to this contribution) That is different from my right hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Mr. Forth).
Eric Forth | 441 c330 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman saying that I should respect and take seriously the votes of those who cannot ...
David Heath | 441 c330 (Link to this contribution) I am suggesting that we should take seriously and respect the vote of every person in the country wh...
Jeremy Wright | 441 c329-30 (Link to this contribution) Is there not a third dimension? I am thinking of the effect of a proper registration system that wou...
David Heath | 441 c330 (Link to this contribution) I would like to think that the hon. Gentleman is right, although I cannot state categorically that I...
Oliver Heald | 441 c327-8 (Link to this contribution) As usual, my hon. Friend gets right to the nub of the issue. This is totally inconsistent. The docum...
Baroness Harman | 441 c328 (Link to this contribution) There is a serious point to be made here, which I have been provoked into making. One of the critiqu...
Oliver Heald | 441 c328 (Link to this contribution) I well remember reading the right hon. Lady’s book on this subject, and it was most illuminating. I ...
Oliver Heald | 441 c328 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has obviously learned from his experience.
Speaker | 441 c328 (Link to this contribution) Order. Let us not have a dispute over the size of individual majorities. May we now have a debate on...
Speaker | 441 c328 (Link to this contribution) Order. I hesitate to intervene, but I hope that the hon. Gentleman’s point is going to be relevant t...
John Bercow | 441 c328 (Link to this contribution) I hope so, too, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am trying to be constructive. In April 1992, when I stood as...
Oliver Heald | 441 c328 (Link to this contribution) Since then, however, my hon. Friend has managed to build himself a majority of 18,000—
Chris Ruane | 441 c318 (Link to this contribution) What is the time scale for the introduction of a central Government database able to communicate wit...
Angela Watkinson | 441 c317 (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister agree that requiring the additional information raises awareness among electors an...
Philip Hollobone | 441 c313 (Link to this contribution) Do we not already have a pilot in Northern Ireland? Why do we need additional pilots for the purpose...
Oliver Heald | 441 c315-6 (Link to this contribution) Is not the Minister’s basic point that no one knows their national insurance number? The truth of th...
Baroness Harman | 441 c371-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath) has tabled new clauses dealing with increasing re...
David Heath | 441 c368-9 (Link to this contribution) There are instances of that kind. The Bill makes up some of the deficit in that respect, and I comme...
Baroness Harman | 441 c316-7 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friends have revealed a level of doubt about arrangements in Northern Ireland that shows tha...
Greg Knight | 441 c324-5 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that the arguments that Labour Members have presented against using a nati...
Baroness Keeley | 441 c326 (Link to this contribution) How does the hon. Gentleman believe that local authorities would check national insurance numbers? C...
Oliver Heald | 441 c353 (Link to this contribution) Obviously, this would not apply to any of the main parties, but one could imagine a situation in whi...
Rosemary McKenna | 441 c389 (Link to this contribution) : I very much appreciate the opportunity to welcome the Bill despite the fact that my amendment was ...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 441 c373-4 (Link to this contribution) I do understand what the Minister has said, but still believe that there would be a benefit in the H...
Jeremy Wright | 441 c345 (Link to this contribution) I agree, as the judges say, and I have nothing to add. It is entirely felicitous that I should be ab...
Bob Spink | 441 c314 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister make sure that some pilots use people’s national insurance number as the personal ...

Subjects

Databases
Armed forces
Administration
Absent voting
Costs
Fraud
Finance
Elections
Electorate
Donors
Expenditure
Electoral Commission
Electoral register
National insurance
Pilot schemes
Northern Ireland
Prisoners
Political parties
Proof of identity
Registration
Voting methods

Legislation

Electoral Administration Bill 2005-06

Link

View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk
Back to top