UK Parliament / Open data

Political Parties and Elections Bill

Debate on bills on Monday, 9 February 2009, in the House of Commons.
Political Parties and Elections Bill. Programme Motion (No. 3) varying Programme motion of 20 October 2008 on proceedings for Report and Third reading. Agreed to on question. Report stage first day. New clause 3, discussed with new clause 4, debated and withdrawn. New clause 13 debated and agreed to on division (328 votes to 146). New clause 17 debated and agreed to on question.

About these Parliamentary proceedings

Reference

487 c1133-227 

Session

2008-09

Department

Ministry of Justice

Legislative stage

Report stage

Procedure

Programme motions
New clauses

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber

Related items

Political Parties and Elections Bill. Explanatory Notes Bill 4-EN also published.
Thursday, 4 December 2008
Bills
House of Commons
Deposited Paper DEP2009-2926
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Deposited papers
House of Lords
House of Commons

Proceeding contributions

Speaker | 487 c1164-5;487 c1162-3 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: amendment 47, page 16, line 25, at end ins...
Jonathan Djanogly | 487 c1165-70;487 c1163-8 (Link to this contribution) The amendments deal with the investigatory powers of the Electoral Commission. Let me provide some o...

Show all contributions (196)
Fabian Hamilton | 487 c1164;487 c1162 (Link to this contribution) With the leave of the House, I am grateful to the Minister for his responses to my new clauses 3 and...
Jonathan Djanogly | 487 c1164;487 c1162 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 46, page 16, line 24, leave out 'or has been'.
Jonathan Djanogly | 487 c1162;487 c1160 (Link to this contribution) May I suggest that it is the Minister who has turned the argument on its head? He was arguing that e...
Lord Wills | 487 c1162-4;487 c1160-2 (Link to this contribution) No. I am afraid that the hon. Gentleman is paraphrasing me incorrectly. If he had listened carefully...
Lord Wills | 487 c1161-2;487 c1159-60 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has already answered his own question in his responses to the hon. Member for Cam...
Lord Wills | 487 c1171;487 c1169 (Link to this contribution) I commend the hon. Member for Huntingdon (Mr. Djanogly) on his mastery of the thesaurus. So far, he ...
David Howarth | 487 c1170-1;487 c1168-9 (Link to this contribution) I, too, welcome the Government amendments in this group. As the hon. Member for Huntingdon (Mr. Djan...
Jonathan Djanogly | 487 c1178;487 c1176 (Link to this contribution) We welcome the Government's significant shift on many of the provisions to a position that we basica...
Speaker | 487 c1186;487 c1184 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: amendment 5, in schedule 3, page 38, line ...
Lord Wills | 487 c1186;487 c1184 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. The House will recall that we discussed the p...
Speaker | 487 c1186;487 c1184 (Link to this contribution) Order. I am sorry to interrupt the right hon. Gentleman. Will the House please be quiet? This debate...
Jonathan Djanogly | 487 c1171;487 c1169 (Link to this contribution) If it makes the Minister happy, I shall say that as well.
Lord Wills | 487 c1171-7;487 c1169-75 (Link to this contribution) That has cheered me up immensely, and I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I shall give him some fur...
Peter Bone | 487 c1177;487 c1175 (Link to this contribution) I have been listening to the Minister's argument very carefully. He says that the power will be used...
Lord Wills | 487 c1177-8;487 c1175-6 (Link to this contribution) It might be simpler, but it still might not be the right thing to do. That is the point. The point t...
Pete Wishart | 487 c1190;487 c1188 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 86, page 4, line 2, leave out from '3A' to end and insert 'Nominated Commiss...
Lord Wills | 487 c1186-7;487 c1184-5 (Link to this contribution) The new clause will be of interest to Members because it is designed to make their lives a little ea...
Speaker | 487 c1191;487 c1189 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: amendment 87, page 4, line 3, leave out fr...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 487 c1193;487 c1191 (Link to this contribution) These other minority parties are not only very different but happen to form the Governments of Wales...
Pete Wishart | 487 c1192-3;487 c1190-1 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Lady for that intervention. We have been round the houses on this issue. I...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 487 c1192;487 c1190 (Link to this contribution) I am indeed paying close attention to every word that the hon. Gentleman is saying, many of which he...
Pete Wishart | 487 c1191-2;487 c1189-90 (Link to this contribution) The amendment, which unites all the minority parties in this House, stands in my name and that of my...
Stewart Hosie | 487 c1193-4;487 c1191-2 (Link to this contribution) Is it not the case that the electoral systems may be different? I am not sure whether the electoral ...
Pete Wishart | 487 c1193;487 c1191 (Link to this contribution) We have absolutely no problem whatsoever about working with the other minority parties in this House...
Lord Maude of Horsham | 487 c1193;487 c1191 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman really saying that his party is incapable of working with other parties in ord...
Pete Wishart | 487 c1193;487 c1191 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for reminding me of that fact. I will come to that point, which is a...
Pete Wishart | 487 c1194;487 c1192 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. Northern Ireland has a very different political system of proportional repr...
Pete Wishart | 487 c1194;487 c1192 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a good point, and I am sorry to disappoint him, but UKIP does not qualify. ...
Bob Spink | 487 c1194;487 c1192 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman not agree that the key issue is how the matter will be perceived by the publ...
Pete Wishart | 487 c1194-5;487 c1192-3 (Link to this contribution) The independents are not even recognised as a political party in this House, and that also applies t...
Pete Wishart | 487 c1195;487 c1193 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. I can see that 15 may seem a bit of a low...
Alan Reid | 487 c1195;487 c1193 (Link to this contribution) I support the principle behind the hon. Gentleman's amendment, but I do not think that the solution ...
Pete Wishart | 487 c1195;487 c1193 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend who, as usual, makes an important and powerful point. The legitimacy...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 487 c1195;487 c1193 (Link to this contribution) Would my hon. Friend agree that if his proposal is not taken up, it will, sadly, look like a shoddy ...
Pete Wishart | 487 c1195-6;487 c1193-4 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I can see the Minister itching to get to his feet to explain that, ...
Hywel Williams | 487 c1195;487 c1193 (Link to this contribution) An example of that complexity is that the legislative competence of the Welsh Assembly is determined...
Gavin Strang | 487 c1196-7;487 c1194-7 (Link to this contribution) Quite frankly, if there were only two or three, it would not be earth-shattering. But having said th...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 487 c1196;487 c1194 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I have stopped the hon. Gentleman in mid-flow, but would he happy to see a commission withou...
Gavin Strang | 487 c1196;487 c1194 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart) knows, the commission has resisted ...
David Howarth | 487 c1198;487 c1196 (Link to this contribution) I do agree that that is necessary, and that the Electoral Commission's credibility in carrying out i...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 487 c1198;487 c1196 (Link to this contribution) I am listening to the hon. Gentleman's long-term hopes, goals and ambitions. As we know, in the Hous...
David Howarth | 487 c1197-8;487 c1195-6 (Link to this contribution) As I said in Committee, I have a great deal of sympathy with the position taken by the hon. Member f...
Gavin Strang | 487 c1197;487 c1195 (Link to this contribution) We had an unfortunate experience in Edinburgh, East, too. We had the highest number of spoiled paper...
Stewart Hosie | 487 c1197;487 c1195 (Link to this contribution) The point made by the hon. Member for Livingston (Mr. Devine) about the lack of real life experience...
Gavin Strang | 487 c1197;487 c1195 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a powerful point. We could go over the history of the matter, and as I said ear...
Jim Devine | 487 c1197;487 c1195 (Link to this contribution) As my right hon. Friend knows, I was my predecessor's election agent from 1983. I was astonished by ...
David Howarth | 487 c1198-9;487 c1196-7 (Link to this contribution) Not at all. On the basic principle proposed by the hon. Gentleman's party, we will be with him in th...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 487 c1198;487 c1196 (Link to this contribution) I am listening carefully to the hon. Gentleman, and I hope that this is not an example of the Libera...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 487 c1199;487 c1197 (Link to this contribution) I am listening carefully to the hon. Gentleman, but from where I am sitting—I am sure that it applie...
Andrew Mackinlay | 487 c1200;487 c1998 (Link to this contribution) We have every confidence in the desire of our friends and colleagues to be impartial—no one has sugg...
Peter Viggers | 487 c1200;487 c1998 (Link to this contribution) First, the Chairman of the Speaker's Committee is technically the Speaker. He is not always present,...
Jim Devine | 487 c1200;487 c1998 (Link to this contribution) We should be clear about what the Electoral Commission is. It is a practical application of electora...
Peter Viggers | 487 c1199;487 c1197 (Link to this contribution) All I can say to the hon. Gentleman is that, knowing from my membership of the Speaker's Committee t...
Andrew Mackinlay | 487 c1200;487 c1998 (Link to this contribution) How does the Chairman personally envisage the committee going about making the choice? Let us assume...
Peter Viggers | 487 c1200;487 c1998 (Link to this contribution) The Speaker's Committee agrees. That is why it has concurred with the Government's proposals to have...
Stewart Hosie | 487 c1201;487 c1999 (Link to this contribution) I am listening to the hon. Gentleman and I am with him so far, but he mentioned the electoral proces...
Alan Whitehead | 487 c1201-2;487 c1999-2000 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman had waited for one minute, he might have heard me address that issue. When I t...
Pete Wishart | 487 c1202;487 c1200 (Link to this contribution) I actually agree with the hon. Gentleman. I have the same hope and aspiration that the political nom...
Alan Whitehead | 487 c1202;487 c1200 (Link to this contribution) I understand the hon. Gentleman's concern. However, all of us, both in this House and in the Parliam...
Andrew Mackinlay | 487 c1202;487 c1200 (Link to this contribution) Surely the case for representation from Northern Ireland, by way of an example, is demonstrated by t...
Speaker | 487 c1200;487 c1998 (Link to this contribution) Order. I think that the hon. Gentleman has made his point and asked his question.
Peter Viggers | 487 c1200-1;487 c1998-9 (Link to this contribution) There are two main theories to which human beings subscribe. I think that the hon. Gentleman subscri...
Chris Huhne | 487 c1201;487 c1999 (Link to this contribution) On the substantive points in the amendments, I understand that the key attribute of people that the ...
Peter Viggers | 487 c1201;487 c1999 (Link to this contribution) Much of the legislation that deals with the Electoral Commission is not clear. Several matters have ...
Alan Whitehead | 487 c1201;487 c1999 (Link to this contribution) I am concerned by the way in which we appear collectively to portray what the political commissioner...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 487 c1205;487 c1203 (Link to this contribution) Well, I am not an old boy, and I never will be. The fact is that the hon. Member for Thurrock, in vi...
Alan Whitehead | 487 c1204;487 c1202 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman puts forward two options. One would result in about four out of nine commissioner...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 487 c1204-5;487 c1202-3 (Link to this contribution) Commissioners with direct political experience will enhance the work of the Electoral Commission, so...
Alan Whitehead | 487 c1203;487 c1200-1 (Link to this contribution) By referring to the word ““representation””, my hon. Friend has, if anything, underlined the problem...
Alan Whitehead | 487 c1203-4;487 c1201-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes my point precisely. How the public perceive what we do is very important, a...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 487 c1204;487 c1202 (Link to this contribution) I am listening very carefully to the hon. Gentleman, who is making some very good points. He is pres...
Alan Whitehead | 487 c1203;487 c1201 (Link to this contribution) I hope that the hon. Gentleman has been following closely what I was saying. As far as this House an...
Bob Spink | 487 c1203;487 c1201 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman's hopes are laudable, and we can all follow his arguments. He is right to look fo...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 487 c1207;487 c1205 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I am very pleased that I entirely disagree with the hon. Gentleman ab...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 487 c1206;487 c1204 (Link to this contribution) There is a better way to ensure fairness, which is to get rid of elections under any system other th...
Gavin Strang | 487 c1206;487 c1204 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is making a constructive speech and clearly we support her on the role that these comm...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 487 c1206;487 c1204 (Link to this contribution) That is the whole point of the spectrum of experience. It is likely that one of these four people wi...
Speaker | 487 c1206;487 c1204 (Link to this contribution) Order. Hon Members have had more than enough opportunities to put their points and make intervention...
Jim Devine | 487 c1205;487 c1203 (Link to this contribution) I am disappointed that the hon. Lady has not nominated me. It is, however, a sad indictment of parti...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 487 c1205-6;487 c1203-4 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I do, and I see no reason why the hon. Gentleman, despite being a member of the Labour party, c...
Alan Reid | 487 c1206;487 c1204 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is right about the whole spectrum of experience, but does she not accept that fighting...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 487 c1208-9;487 c1206-7 (Link to this contribution) Unfortunately, the right hon. Gentleman's words will be construed as high-handed in many other place...
Lord Wills | 487 c1209;487 c1207 (Link to this contribution) I have heard the hon. Gentleman's views on fairness many times in this short debate, and I point out...
Lord Wills | 487 c1208;487 c1206 (Link to this contribution) I give way to the hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Mr. MacNeil), who wanted to intervene on me ...
Lord Wills | 487 c1208;487 c1206 (Link to this contribution) I want to make a few more points. After that I shall be happy to give way to the hon. Gentleman, alt...
Lord Wills | 487 c1207-8;487 c1205-6 (Link to this contribution) I am extremely grateful to the hon. Member for Gosport (Sir Peter Viggers) and the Speaker's Committ...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 487 c1207;487 c1205 (Link to this contribution) No, I cannot give way again. We really must make progress. The basis of the argument advanced by th...
Lord Maude of Horsham | 487 c1221;487 c1219 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister be a little more specific about the proposal that the Government plan to bring bef...
Lord Wills | 487 c1221;487 c1219 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman knows that we understand his concerns about symmetry, which is why we have ...
Lord Wills | 487 c1220-1;487 c1218-9 (Link to this contribution) As I say, we are open to representations on this. We want to take a view that as far as possible com...
Andrew Mackinlay | 487 c1220;487 c1218 (Link to this contribution) I am truly trying to follow this, but I am a little bewildered. In a situation such as that in 1964 ...
Lord Wills | 487 c1220;487 c1218 (Link to this contribution) I understand my hon. Friend's concern, and as a matter of common sense I can see the force of what h...
Bob Spink | 487 c1219;487 c1217 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the parliamentary draftsmen on how they have tackled this complex area, and I am deli...
Lord Wills | 487 c1221;487 c1219 (Link to this contribution) I understand my hon. Friend's concerns. I suspect that the hon. Member for Argyll and Bute (Mr. Reid...
Alan Reid | 487 c1221;487 c1219 (Link to this contribution) If the Government are considering the communications allowance used by Members of this House, can th...
Lord Maude of Horsham | 487 c1223;487 c1221 (Link to this contribution) Frankly, it is very hard to see how it is an abuse for candidates to raise money to fight their camp...
Lord Maude of Horsham | 487 c1223;487 c1221 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman seems to think that that is different, but it is not. The argument is completely ...
Lord Wills | 487 c1221-2;487 c1219-20 (Link to this contribution) I understand all of those concerns. We have done our best to reach a consensus on the agreements. Th...
Lord Maude of Horsham | 487 c1222;487 c1220 (Link to this contribution) I warmly welcome the Government's climbdown on this issue; it is a long-overdue return to an attempt...
Martin Linton | 487 c1222;487 c1220 (Link to this contribution) I can assure the right hon. Gentleman that I campaign not for myself in any way—I am totally confide...
Lord Maude of Horsham | 487 c1222;487 c1220 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman says that his campaigning was entirely high-minded and selfless, of course I a...
Mike Weir | 487 c1209;487 c1207 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Wills | 487 c1209;487 c1207 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry; of course I will give way to the hon. Gentleman.
Mike Weir | 487 c1210;487 c1208 (Link to this contribution) But does the right hon. Gentleman not accept that proportional representation has delivered differen...
Lord Wills | 487 c1210;487 c1208 (Link to this contribution) With all due respect to the hon. Gentleman, I must inform him that it is not those Governments who w...
Mike Weir | 487 c1209;487 c1209 (Link to this contribution) I thank the right hon. Gentleman for giving way. He has not addressed the important point that there...
Lord Wills | 487 c1209;487 c1207 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for making that point, because it was this Government who brough...
Lord Wills | 487 c1210;487 c1208 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman understand that that is not necessarily the case? That is not the way in whi...
Pete Wishart | 487 c1210;487 c1208 (Link to this contribution) This has been a good and interesting debate, containing some valuable contributions—until we reached...
Lord Wills | 487 c1210;487 c1208 (Link to this contribution) Of course not; the hon. Lady is right. What lies behind her comments is a point that has been made o...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 487 c1210;487 c1208 (Link to this contribution) Can the Minister answer this simple question: is there anything to prevent the leader of any of the ...
Lord Wills | 487 c1211;487 c1209 (Link to this contribution) I genuinely suggest that the hon. Gentleman examines the proposals before he starts getting emotiona...
Pete Wishart | 487 c1211;487 c1209 (Link to this contribution) The Minister will know that that was not an answer and that he does not know how the fourth commissi...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 487 c1211;487 c1209 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that this process is beginning to throw into question the legitimacy of th...
Pete Wishart | 487 c1211;487 c1209 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is entirely right in what he says, because he describes the challenge; the Electoral ...
Lord Wills | 487 c1216;487 c1214 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Speaker | 487 c1216;487 c1214 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: amendment (a) to Government new clause 17,...
Alan Reid | 487 c1218;487 c1216 (Link to this contribution) In general, I support the new clause. However, if a national political party were to deluge a consti...
Lord Wills | 487 c1216-8;487 c1214-6 (Link to this contribution) This group of amendments will overhaul and refine the provisions in the Bill relating to candidate e...
Lord Wills | 487 c1218;487 c1216 (Link to this contribution) I will come to that point later. This is an extremely complex area. It is highly contentious, as we ...
Martin Linton | 487 c1224;487 c1222 (Link to this contribution) I shall not take up much of the House's time because I do not want to stand in the way of amendments...
Lord Maude of Horsham | 487 c1224;487 c1222 (Link to this contribution) That is the bit that I did not hear clearly. I heard the commitment not to commence the provision wi...
Lord Wills | 487 c1223;487 c1221 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry that the right hon. Gentleman did not hear a clear commitment. I thought that I made it c...
Lord Maude of Horsham | 487 c1223;487 c1221 (Link to this contribution) I shall simply cite the Justice Secretary when that matter was raised in a debate a little more than...
Bob Spink | 487 c1226;487 c1224 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman supports Government new clause 17, but does he agree that it should be even tough...
David Howarth | 487 c1225-6;487 c1223-4 (Link to this contribution) I am very glad to welcome the demise of clause 11, as it did not produce the answers, which many hon...
Martin Linton | 487 c1224-5;487 c1222-3 (Link to this contribution) It is a loophole in the controls on candidates' spending that have existed for 128 years in this cou...
Lord Maude of Horsham | 487 c1224;487 c1222 (Link to this contribution) Could the hon. Gentleman just explain why it is a loophole for a legitimate donor of any sort to be ...
Gordon Prentice | 487 c1223;487 c1221 (Link to this contribution) The candidate whom I defeated last time was Jane Ellison, who is standing in Battersea this time. Do...
Lord Maude of Horsham | 487 c1223;487 c1221 (Link to this contribution) I give way to the hon. Gentleman, another Member with a very marginal seat and an outstanding Conser...
David Howarth | 487 c1226;487 c1224 (Link to this contribution) I hear what the hon. Gentleman says, but those amendments are technically deficient in an important ...
Lord Wills | 487 c1226-7;487 c1224-5 (Link to this contribution) In the few remaining seconds, I want to pick up on some of the points that have been raised in this ...
David Howarth | 487 c1134-5;487 c1132-3 (Link to this contribution) I rather think that that was a churlish speech from the hon. Member for Huntingdon (Mr. Djanogly), s...
Jonathan Djanogly | 487 c1133-4;487 c1131-2 (Link to this contribution) This legislation has been by far the most poorly structured moving beast of a Bill that I and, I thi...
Speaker | 487 c1137-8;487 c1135-6 (Link to this contribution) : With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: new clause 4—Independent panel to advise...
David Howarth | 487 c1136;487 c1134 (Link to this contribution) We will come back to the issue of what Sir Hayden Phillips said and whether any state funding is nec...
Fabian Hamilton | 487 c1137;487 c1135 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Lord Wills | 487 c1136;487 c1134 (Link to this contribution) As I say, I am sure that we will come back to those proposals at a future date. At the moment, we ha...
Jonathan Djanogly | 487 c1148;487 c1146 (Link to this contribution) In making all those points, the hon. Gentleman runs the risk of putting the monitoring of our electo...
Jonathan Djanogly | 487 c1148;487 c1146 (Link to this contribution) I would say that most people would put the running of our electoral system in a different category f...
David Howarth | 487 c1148;487 c1146 (Link to this contribution) The 2008 Act deals with a whole range of topics, some of them very serious. The hon. Gentleman has t...
Jonathan Djanogly | 487 c1148;487 c1146 (Link to this contribution) I put it to the hon. Gentleman that the reason is that we are here to guard our democratic system.
Lord Hain | 487 c1148-50;487 c1146-8 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, North-East (Mr. Hamilton) made his case powerfully, and I under...
David Howarth | 487 c1148;487 c1146 (Link to this contribution) Precisely right. But I want the hon. Gentleman to demonstrate that the provisions that he puts forwa...
Lord Wills | 487 c1150-1;487 c1148-9 (Link to this contribution) I rise to address the new clauses tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, North-East (Mr. Ham...
Alan Whitehead | 487 c1150;487 c1148 (Link to this contribution) I am a little puzzled by the insistence on a Division on the question of whether a final appeal unde...
Martin Linton | 487 c1151;487 c1149 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend accept that it should be a minimum requirement that before the Electoral C...
Fabian Hamilton | 487 c1138-40;487 c1136-8 (Link to this contribution) New clauses 3 and 4 give me an opportunity to examine some of the broader issues with which the Bill...
David Howarth | 487 c1146;487 c1144 (Link to this contribution) I understand where the new clauses and amendments tabled by the hon. Member for Leeds, North-East (M...
Gavin Strang | 487 c1145-6;487 c1143-4 (Link to this contribution) The House will be in no doubt about the importance of what we are debating. Clearly, we can talk in ...
Jonathan Djanogly | 487 c1140-5;487 c1138-43 (Link to this contribution) All the amendments in the first group except the first two new clauses address clause 3 and schedule...
Fabian Hamilton | 487 c1140;487 c1138 (Link to this contribution) She certainly is. Members are generally happy to comply with reasonable requirements to register do...
David Howarth | 487 c1146-8;487 c1144-6 (Link to this contribution) I fully support that point. I had intended to deal with the hon. Gentleman's new clause 3 later, but...
Fabian Hamilton | 487 c1146;487 c1144 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the time of the police is better used trying to find real crimina...
David Howarth | 487 c1146;487 c1144 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate that point, but we must be careful not to make special rules for politics just because ...
Jonathan Djanogly | 487 c1146;487 c1144 (Link to this contribution) Surely the hon. Gentleman appreciates that the provisions go much further than MPs. Great concern wa...
Jonathan Djanogly | 487 c1161;487 c1159 (Link to this contribution) I put it to the Minister that if a company files its report and accounts late it will now be fined. ...
Jonathan Djanogly | 487 c1159;487 c1157 (Link to this contribution) There is no precedent, because we are setting up a new system.
Lord Wills | 487 c1159-61;487 c1157-9 (Link to this contribution) With all respect to the hon. Gentleman, there is a precedent in respect of electoral law and there i...
Jonathan Djanogly | 487 c1161;487 c1159 (Link to this contribution) Is the Minister asserting that any fine, no matter how small—very small fines could be imposed for s...
Lord Wills | 487 c1161;487 c1159 (Link to this contribution) As I have already said, transparency is absolutely crucial and our approach mirrors the position wit...
Jonathan Djanogly | 487 c1158;487 c1156 (Link to this contribution) First, the Minister will appreciate that House procedures meant that I had to suggest that we would ...
Lord Wills | 487 c1158-9;487 c1156-7 (Link to this contribution) I stand corrected on the procedures for voting and I am happy to accept the hon. Gentleman's point a...
David Howarth | 487 c1159;487 c1157 (Link to this contribution) I support the Minister's general case on this issue, but is there not another important point in tha...
Lord Wills | 487 c1159;487 c1157 (Link to this contribution) As always, I am happy to consider the argument; we can return to it at some future point. As I have ...
Lord Wills | 487 c1155-6;487 c1153-4 (Link to this contribution) I can only refer the hon. Gentleman again to what the Electoral Commission has said. It has made it ...
Jonathan Djanogly | 487 c1156;487 c1154 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister give the House one example of when an early payment discount would be likely to ap...
Jonathan Djanogly | 487 c1155;487 c1153 (Link to this contribution) I would appreciate it if the Minister addressed the concerns that many people have expressed about t...
Lord Wills | 487 c1153-4;487 c1151-2 (Link to this contribution) That is precisely the intention. I have said already that I fully understand the sentiment behind my...
Jonathan Djanogly | 487 c1154;487 c1152 (Link to this contribution) The Minister said that we were talking about distinguishing the commission's activities from other a...
Fabian Hamilton | 487 c1153;487 c1151 (Link to this contribution) Would my right hon. Friend not accept that the motivation behind new clause 4 was to ensure that the...
Lord Wills | 487 c1151-2;487 c1149-50 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that intervention. My hon. Friend knows that we are planning to reconsider some of...
Jonathan Djanogly | 487 c1152;487 c1150 (Link to this contribution) The Minister almost assumes that the commission will act proportionately. That may be the case with ...
Gavin Strang | 487 c1170;487 c1168 (Link to this contribution) The whole House supports the principle of proper entry and inspection, and, as the hon. Member for H...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 487 c1205;487 c1203 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Lady, and I am wondering whether the hon. Member for Thurrock (Andrew Mack...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 487 c1203;487 c1201 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is talking the talk of fairness, but I am afraid that he is not walking the walk....
Speaker | 487 c1207;487 c1205 (Link to this contribution) Order. People's opinions of what is rubbish vary.
Lord Wills | 487 c1219-20;487 c1217-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has tabled an amendment to that effect, and no doubt we will get on to it in due ...
David Winnick | 487 c1223;487 c1221 (Link to this contribution) Is the right hon. Gentleman familiar with Lord Ashcroft's words? He said:"““We haven't been wasting ...
Lord Wills | 487 c1135-6;487 c1133-4 (Link to this contribution) I hope that we can move rapidly to agreeing the programme motion so that we can get on to the substa...
Peter Viggers | 487 c1199;487 c1197 (Link to this contribution) I wish to speak about amendments 31, 32 and 33, which I tabled as the hon. Member who speaks on beha...
Martin Linton | 487 c1221;487 c1219 (Link to this contribution) In view of the complete absence of Conservative Back Benchers during this debate—I cannot think why—...
Pete Wishart | 487 c1210-1;487 c1208-9 (Link to this contribution) To be fair to the Minister, I should say that that is not how it seems from our Benches. This arrang...
David Howarth | 487 c1148;487 c1146 (Link to this contribution) It is in a different category, but the question is about why that different category should be treat...
Lord Wills | 487 c1152-3;487 c1150-1 (Link to this contribution) Of course, the hon. Gentleman is right; it goes without saying that we are not legislating for the c...
David Howarth | 487 c1220;487 c1218 (Link to this contribution) I have come across this point about fixed costs before, but I ask the Minister to list what he think...
Lord Wills | 487 c1154-5;487 c1152-3 (Link to this contribution) I was including commercial life in the phrase ““public life””—or, if I can be precise, ““matters tha...
Lord Wills | 487 c1156-8;487 c1154-6 (Link to this contribution) Just to correct the hon. Gentleman, let me say that that was not my analogy. I was quoting him, and ...

Subjects

Disclosure of information
Appeals
Candidates
Allowances
County courts
Committee on Standards in Public Life
Finance
Elections
Donors
Expenditure
Electoral Commission
Fines
Powers of entry
Police
Pay
Powers
Public appointments
Members
Political parties
Standards
Right of search
High Court

Legislation

Political Parties and Elections Bill 2007-08 to 2008-09

Link

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