UK Parliament / Open data

Political Parties and Elections Bill

Debate on bills on Monday, 2 March 2009, in the House of Commons, led by Lord Wills. The answering member was Baroness Laing of Elderslie.
Political Parties and Elections Bill. Report stage second day. Government new clause 19 debated and agreed to. New clause 1 debated and negatived on division (70 votes to 299). Government new clause 20 debated and agreed to. New schedule 1 agreed to. Government new clause 21, discussed with Government new clause 22, debated and agreed to. New clause 22 agreed to. Government new clause 23 agreed to on division (235 votes to 176). Third reading debate. Agreed to on division (273 votes to 67) and Bill passed.

About these Parliamentary proceedings

Reference

488 c588-698 

Session

2008-09

Department

Ministry of Justice

Legislative stage

Third reading and Report stage

Procedure

New clauses
New schedules

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
Party funding. Government response to the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee first report of session 2006-07 (HC 163).
Tuesday, 15 May 2007
Command papers
House of Commons
Party funding. Constitutional Affairs Select Committee first report in 2 volumes with proceedings, evidence (HC 1060 i-iii not printed seperately) and appendices.
Wednesday, 13 December 2006
Parliamentary committees
House of Commons

Proceeding contributions

Martin Linton | 488 c602 (Link to this contribution) Without wishing to disagree with the hon. Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink) in any way, may I say ...
Lord Wills | 488 c602 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend; I was about to make exactly that point. Specifying the phrase ""in ...

Show all contributions (290)
Rob Marris | 488 c602-3 (Link to this contribution) I urge my right hon. Friend to resist amendment 121, which would put the onus on the commission and ...
Lord Wills | 488 c603 (Link to this contribution) Again, I have heard what my hon. Friend says, and he has got a point. I will come to our view on ame...
Bob Spink | 488 c602 (Link to this contribution) I was making a point about the Minister's attitude towards the Conservative amendments. I would be m...
Lord Wills | 488 c602 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman's relationship with the Conservative party is infinitely fascinating—it is the st...
Martin Linton | 488 c606 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that raising the level to £1,000 would make it relatively easy for a d...
Jonathan Djanogly | 488 c604-6 (Link to this contribution) As the Bill stands, clause 8 creates a new requirement for a donor to make a declaration in respect ...
Martin Linton | 488 c606 (Link to this contribution) But this provision would create a loophole, because it would set the recording level. The recipient ...
Jonathan Djanogly | 488 c606 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that that can happen, because it is a catch-all provision. However, we are not oppose...
Rob Marris | 488 c608-9 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will correct me if I am wrong, but according to my recollection, he is a lawyer; ...
Jonathan Djanogly | 488 c609 (Link to this contribution) That is not the case, because the defences are different. They are not put together. Let me continue...
Rob Marris | 488 c607 (Link to this contribution) It would not do so if the Government adopted the excellent proposal that someone made earlier—that t...
Jonathan Djanogly | 488 c607-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has made his point, which is worth looking at. We would not be averse to debating...
Rob Marris | 488 c607 (Link to this contribution) I do not understand, especially given the state of the world economy and the prospect of deflation h...
Jonathan Djanogly | 488 c607 (Link to this contribution) We have provided that indexation should be upward only on the basis that to date none of the thresho...
Jonathan Djanogly | 488 c606-7 (Link to this contribution) My understanding is that there are anti-avoidance provisions. Taking the hon. Gentleman's point at f...
Lord Wills | 488 c610 (Link to this contribution) I am anxious that the hon. Gentleman should not be under any misapprehension. I said to him that I d...
Jonathan Djanogly | 488 c609-10 (Link to this contribution) He did, and I congratulate him on having done so, but he was not speaking from the Front Bench, unle...
Lord Wills | 488 c609 (Link to this contribution) I rise on behalf of my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea (Martin Linton). On a point of record, I...
David Howarth | 488 c618-9 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman looks at new clause 8, he will see the overall intention of the Liberal Democr...
Tony Lloyd | 488 c618 (Link to this contribution) This goes to the heart of the debate. Although the hon. Gentleman—supported by the Scottish national...
David Howarth | 488 c619 (Link to this contribution) One of the fundamental points from the Hayden Phillips talks was that we need to come together on th...
Jonathan Djanogly | 488 c619 (Link to this contribution) The debate is becoming more complicated, but does the hon. Gentleman accept the basic premise that n...
David Howarth | 488 c617-8 (Link to this contribution) I was going to deal with that point later, but let me make something absolutely clear now. Hayden Ph...
David Howarth | 488 c618 (Link to this contribution) If I can be allowed to finish this point, I will let hon. Members intervene afterwards. I propose t...
Tony Lloyd | 488 c617 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will be aware that I have an interest as chair of the trade union group of Labour...
David Howarth | 488 c617 (Link to this contribution) No, the issue is not only transparency, but whether public confidence can be maintained solely by tr...
David Howarth | 488 c622 (Link to this contribution) As the Secretary of State says, the conclusion was that a donations limit should be considered in th...
Jack Straw | 488 c621-2 (Link to this contribution) The other parties have rather more seats, and they aspire to Government, which makes a difference. I...
David Howarth | 488 c621 (Link to this contribution) My view is that those three elements stand together. I would never have separated new clause 1 from ...
Alan Whitehead | 488 c621 (Link to this contribution) Is not the hon. Gentleman making the case that new clause 1 is unfortunately detached not only from ...
David Howarth | 488 c620-1 (Link to this contribution) A set of figures available from the Electoral Commission and on the parties' websites gives us a clu...
Bob Spink | 488 c620 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right to say that public perception is the acid test. I tend to support the di...
David Howarth | 488 c619-20 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman must forgive me. I am not bringing forward the single element of the package; the...
Martin Linton | 488 c619 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman not accept that any money that finds its way into the political fund of a un...
David Howarth | 488 c619 (Link to this contribution) That is precisely right and it is what we are trying to achieve. The hon. Member for Manchester, Cen...
Pete Wishart | 488 c619 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the Labour party's attempt to evade unions being part of the whol...
James Brokenshire | 488 c611 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend, and indeed the Minister, talked about the concept of acting in good faith. To that e...
Jonathan Djanogly | 488 c610 (Link to this contribution) I am thankful to the Minister for putting the record straight. That makes it more important that we ...
Rob Marris | 488 c611 (Link to this contribution) As I understand amendment 121, the hon. Gentleman seeks to apply a subjective test to actions that m...
Jonathan Djanogly | 488 c611 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an interesting and valid point that I hope will be taken on board and considere...
David Howarth | 488 c612 (Link to this contribution) This is one of those odd occasions where I was in favour of the new clause the Minister was proposin...
Jonathan Djanogly | 488 c611-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman may have a point. We presented two defences that need to be reviewed, and perhaps...
David Howarth | 488 c612-3 (Link to this contribution) I am glad to hear the Minister being suitably modest about his proposal, but I would have preferred ...
Lord Wills | 488 c612 (Link to this contribution) I do not want to interrupt the hon. Gentleman unduly, but I did make the point that we are all makin...
Jonathan Djanogly | 488 c613 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman therefore saying that he will not support the insertion into the Bill of any p...
David Howarth | 488 c613 (Link to this contribution) As the Minister said, it depends what the offence is. There is scope for an innocent mistake defence...
David Howarth | 488 c616 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. New clause 1 simply introduces a £50,000 cap ...
Lord Wills | 488 c615 (Link to this contribution) We have had an interesting discussion. We have heard what people said and we have taken most of the ...
James Duddridge | 488 c614-5 (Link to this contribution) This seems to be quite popular. Perhaps I will arrange a whip-round after the debate. I am grateful...
David Howarth | 488 c617 (Link to this contribution) I was going to come to that point later, too, because my view—as well as that of my party and my par...
Mark Field | 488 c616-7 (Link to this contribution) I am listening with great interest to what the hon. Gentleman has to say. Given his concern in relat...
David Howarth | 488 c616 (Link to this contribution) Sir Hayden Phillips did say that it was a comprehensive package, but I understand that the talks nev...
Jack Straw | 488 c616 (Link to this contribution) I hope to expand on this point if I catch your eye, Madam Deputy Speaker, but does the hon. Gentlema...
James Duddridge | 488 c614 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the Minister's attitude towards new clause 19. As a result, my comments will be quite brie...
Mark Field | 488 c617 (Link to this contribution) The issue, in part, is that we, as Members of Parliament, have a limit set of 1 per cent. of our sal...
John Redwood | 488 c593 (Link to this contribution) I have a lot of sympathy with what the Minister is trying to do; there is a burden involved, and the...
Lord Wills | 488 c593 (Link to this contribution) It was a judgment. From memory, if we had increased the thresholds in line with inflation, the figur...
Bob Spink | 488 c593 (Link to this contribution) Was any research done into the sums that ordinary people—the volunteers, the grass-roots workers—giv...
Lord Wills | 488 c593-4 (Link to this contribution) We are talking about recordable thresholds at the moment, not reportable thresholds, so the hon. Gen...
Lord Tyrie | 488 c594 (Link to this contribution) I agree with everything the Minister says about the need for a balance between compliance and transp...
Lord Wills | 488 c594-7;488 c594-6 (Link to this contribution) I think that the hon. Gentleman, who was a member of the Public Bill Committee, was present at the s...
Bob Spink | 488 c597 (Link to this contribution) I believe that indexation as proposed in the Opposition amendments would complicate the Bill and lea...
Lord Wills | 488 c597 (Link to this contribution) Let me take a moment in which to contemplate that enticing image. [Laughter.] No—I have calmed down ...
Lord Wills | 488 c598 (Link to this contribution) Inflation went up to unsustainable levels—
Bob Spink | 488 c591 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted that the Minister has allowed me to intervene again in order to explain that I belong...
Lord Wills | 488 c590-1 (Link to this contribution) As my right hon. Friend says, without those volunteers, none of us would be here. We have to be care...
Bob Spink | 488 c591 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman must be cognisant of the level of public distrust that there is in this pla...
Martin Linton | 488 c592 (Link to this contribution) Is my right hon. Friend not concerned that foreign residents, such as Sean Connery, who are currentl...
Lord Wills | 488 c591-2 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his intervention and I am happy that he has put the record s...
Pete Wishart | 488 c592 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is proposing to increase what is permissible by 150 per cent. Has he taken into account...
Lord Wills | 488 c593;488 c592-3 (Link to this contribution) As always, I pay tribute to my hon. Friend, and on this occasion, I also pay tribute to his ingenuit...
Speaker | 488 c588-90 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: Amendments (a) to (c). Government amendm...
Lord Wills | 488 c590 (Link to this contribution) In line with the indication I gave in Committee, we have considered raising the recordable and repor...
Lord Wills | 488 c601-2 (Link to this contribution) As always, the hon. Gentleman makes an extremely important point. He is right that we have to strike...
David Howarth | 488 c601 (Link to this contribution) There are dangers of the sort that the hon. Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink) mentions, and I hope...
Lord Wills | 488 c601 (Link to this contribution) I believe that the hon. Gentleman was reading from the Conservative amendment.
Bob Spink | 488 c601 (Link to this contribution) Amendment 121 would insert an escape clause, stating:""A person does not commit an offence if, in th...
Lord Wills | 488 c601 (Link to this contribution) We intend to resist that amendment. The hon. Gentleman is not reading from the amendments that we pr...
Bob Spink | 488 c600-1 (Link to this contribution) I am not consoled or persuaded at all. In fact, I am deeply concerned that, yet again, the Oppositio...
Lord Wills | 488 c601 (Link to this contribution) Oh, he is. I give way to the hon. Gentleman.
Lord Wills | 488 c600 (Link to this contribution) As always, my hon. Friend makes an extremely important point. That is one of the issues that we will...
Lord Wills | 488 c600 (Link to this contribution) That is a good point, and it is certainly one of the issues that we will bear in mind when formulati...
James Brokenshire | 488 c599 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is making an important point, not just about the methodology and what rate or index is ...
Lord Wills | 488 c599 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point, and I was about to address it. Whatever the uprated figure ...
David Winnick | 488 c599 (Link to this contribution) Many times today I have heard my right hon. Friend talk about consensus, reaching the right balance ...
Lord Wills | 488 c598-9 (Link to this contribution) Those are important points, but if I may I shall conclude the point I was making about the value of ...
James Duddridge | 488 c598 (Link to this contribution) I fear the Minister may be losing his way. Although I disagree with his history lesson, which was so...
Lord Wills | 488 c598 (Link to this contribution) It was 22 per cent., which was a huge burden on my constituents and those of every Member. It is a t...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 488 c664 (Link to this contribution) On that point, and the point raised by the hon. Member for Edmonton (Mr. Love) about the timetable, ...
Speaker | 488 c661 (Link to this contribution) Order. I have every confidence in Mr. Speaker's selection, and I have not heard anything that causes...
Alan Whitehead | 488 c663 (Link to this contribution) Is it my right hon. Friend's intention to include in that timetable, with which I wholeheartedly con...
Lord Wills | 488 c663 (Link to this contribution) No, it is not. [Interruption.] Good. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will just signal that in future....
Lord Wills | 488 c663 (Link to this contribution) I am coming to that point. If hon. Members will be patient for a bit longer, the full majesty of the...
Andrew Love | 488 c663 (Link to this contribution) I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way. My question relates to the Electoral Commission and its...
Viscount Hailsham | 488 c666 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is right that a comprehensive register is an important object of policy, but so is esta...
Lord Wills | 488 c665-6 (Link to this contribution) I addressed that point earlier when I mentioned the criteria for the pilot, but I am happy to say a ...
David Howarth | 488 c665 (Link to this contribution) My query is about the previous part of the plan, the point at which the provision of identifiers is ...
Lord Wills | 488 c664-5 (Link to this contribution) I have found that I am about to answer a lot of the questions that I am being asked. If the hon. Gen...
Chris Ruane | 488 c666 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Cambridge (David Howarth) said that different areas do different things, which i...
Lord Wills | 488 c666 (Link to this contribution) It is not the latter, but I am limping towards the end of my speech and I will address these points....
Lord Wills | 488 c666 (Link to this contribution) Again, I had hoped that I had made this clear. I said that they were both fundamental problems, and ...
Lord Wills | 488 c668 (Link to this contribution) I do not agree with the right hon. and learned Gentleman's use of that adjective. He may have a rela...
Viscount Hailsham | 488 c668 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman says that he wants consensus. I understand him to be saying that these fund...
Lord Wills | 488 c667-8 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman will let me finish my remarks, he can make a speech, saying exactly what he th...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 488 c669 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a very good point; of course, I agree. Indeed, I agree with the Minister, a...
Lord Wills | 488 c668 (Link to this contribution) I will not give way for at least two minutes. I think that we have reached agreement on the broad p...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 488 c670-1 (Link to this contribution) I understand what the Minister is saying, but I am unsure whether his colleagues who deal with the b...
Lord Wills | 488 c670 (Link to this contribution) I do not want to delay the hon. Lady, but I ask her to reconsider her comments about the timetabling...
David Howarth | 488 c669 (Link to this contribution) I caution the hon. Lady to distinguish between new clauses 21and 22, which are before us tonight, ar...
Lord Wills | 488 c653 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Lord Wills | 488 c653 (Link to this contribution) These new clauses form an important part of our plans to transform electoral administration. It is s...
David Howarth | 488 c653 (Link to this contribution) The only fundamental principles that I would raise at this point are those of data protection. Will ...
Lord Wills | 488 c653 (Link to this contribution) Of course data protection is a fundamental principle as well. It does not apply specifically to elec...
Lord Wills | 488 c657-8 (Link to this contribution) When we give powers we naturally expect them to be used, and we will monitor the position. That is t...
Chris Ruane | 488 c657 (Link to this contribution) As my right hon. Friend says, EROs currently have permission to consult databases in different local...
Lord Wills | 488 c656-7 (Link to this contribution) That is an important point. There are significant variations throughout the country, and some areas ...
Lord Wills | 488 c655-6 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is quite right. Those two things have to go in lockstep together, but 91 per cent. is...
Andrew Love | 488 c656 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend accept that a great difficulty here is whether the council giving the fund...
David Howarth | 488 c656 (Link to this contribution) I fully support the sentiments that the Minister is expressing, but there is a problem with uniform ...
Lord Wills | 488 c656 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that intervention and I am aware of that strongly held point of ...
Chris Ruane | 488 c656 (Link to this contribution) When I have tabled parliamentary questions asking about the amount per elector in each local authori...
Lord Wills | 488 c660 (Link to this contribution) With all respect to the hon. Gentleman, the House will have an opportunity to look at each scheme on...
David Howarth | 488 c658 (Link to this contribution) The Minister referred to the public bodies, or Government Departments, that had been consulted, and ...
Bob Spink | 488 c658 (Link to this contribution) I support the aim of new clause 21. However, subsection (7) deals with the disclosure of information...
Lord Wills | 488 c660-1 (Link to this contribution) I have a considerable amount still to go through and I do not want to try the patience of the House ...
Lord Wills | 488 c660 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman would bear with me for just one more minute, I shall give him some extra reass...
Jack Straw | 488 c624-5 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that we have an opportunity to discuss the crucial issue of the role, if any, of donation ...
Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top | 488 c625 (Link to this contribution) I intervened on the hon. Member for Cambridge (David Howarth) precisely because his new clause would...
David Heath | 488 c626 (Link to this contribution) I am very disappointed by the position that the Lord Chancellor is now adopting, because the positio...
Speaker | 488 c624 (Link to this contribution) Order. We are discussing a specific amendment, and the hon. Gentleman must be careful in what he say...
David Howarth | 488 c624 (Link to this contribution) I do not want to stray from the subject of the debate, Madam Deputy Speaker, but in that particular ...
Tony Lloyd | 488 c623 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman; he is being very generous with interventions. Many people—I am ...
Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top | 488 c623 (Link to this contribution) No, my intervention is not on that point, although I should like to debate it with the hon. Gentlema...
David Howarth | 488 c623 (Link to this contribution) Any cap would make such a big gesture in the direction of self-control by those of us in politics th...
David Howarth | 488 c622 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I will give way, because the right hon. Lady probably wants to deal with the point that I am ma...
Martin Linton | 488 c622 (Link to this contribution) Surely, the hon. Gentleman knows that we already have a system in this country that long pre-dates w...
David Howarth | 488 c622 (Link to this contribution) Yes, the money goes in by individual decision, but it comes out by collective decision and, for that...
Lord Tyrie | 488 c635-6 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to support motions to concentrate minds, but I get wary about supporting fundamental new ...
Richard Shepherd | 488 c636-7 (Link to this contribution) I am only surprised that the proposed cap in the new clause is so large. If I look back over what ha...
Lord Tyrie | 488 c632-3 (Link to this contribution) I am on the record as saying many times that I would have preferred a lower limit, but my party's po...
Philip Davies | 488 c633-4 (Link to this contribution) For me, the most important thing is transparency rather than a cap. My hon. Friend said that some pe...
Danny Alexander | 488 c635 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps amendments might be tabled in another place to allow the change to take place in the more mo...
David Howarth | 488 c630 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman asked about the timing of the proposal. If not now, when? The Bill is about party...
Jack Straw | 488 c629-30 (Link to this contribution) First, the hon. Gentleman knows very well that there is not a shred of evidence in those allegations...
James Brokenshire | 488 c626-7 (Link to this contribution) Before the Secretary of State leaves that report, I just wish to understand why the Government's res...
Jack Straw | 488 c627-8 (Link to this contribution) As I say, my starting point has always been the position that was taken by Neill and by my party, an...
Andrew Mackinlay | 488 c628-9 (Link to this contribution) In Committee and earlier, I have been trying to follow the impact of the Bill on Northern Ireland po...
Jack Straw | 488 c628 (Link to this contribution) I agree with that. May I say something else on the issue of donation limits? I shall do so briefly, ...
Lord Wills | 488 c674 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. and learned Gentleman has been in the House far longer than I—
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 488 c674 (Link to this contribution) I will attempt, as my right hon. and learned Friend suggests, to extract that undertaking from the M...
Viscount Hailsham | 488 c673 (Link to this contribution) I did not intend to touch on that. We have been told by the Minister that we will be given proper an...
David Heath | 488 c674 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady agree that it is a matter not of time, but of process? What would be ideal would ...
Lord Wills | 488 c674 (Link to this contribution) To guide us in our reflections, can the hon. Lady tell me how much time she thinks will be a proper ...
Lord Wills | 488 c674 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. He is asking for something that he knows he is not going to get. However, what the hon. Lady...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 488 c674 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate that the Minister's undertakings are genuine, and I believe him when he says that he wa...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 488 c675 (Link to this contribution) For the record, I should say that I entirely agree with what the hon. Gentleman has just said.
Viscount Hailsham | 488 c676 (Link to this contribution) I agree with an awful lot of what the hon. Gentleman has said. The truth is that we do not know the ...
David Howarth | 488 c675-6 (Link to this contribution) I am very glad to hear that. I think that at last we have achieved consensus on an issue where there...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 488 c674-5 (Link to this contribution) The issue is about more than the hours. We should be able to scrutinise the legislation line by line...
Chris Ruane | 488 c676 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has expressed his concerns about databases. I think that 420 electoral registrati...
Julian Lewis | 488 c678 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I should be most grateful if there were an opportunity to...
Speaker | 488 c693 (Link to this contribution) Order. I do not think that is a matter on which the hon. Gentleman—or, indeed, the House—should want...
Speaker | 488 c693 (Link to this contribution) I should first say that the term "acting Speaker" is certainly not in the Standing Orders. Standing...
Speaker | 488 c693 (Link to this contribution) Again, as far as my advice goes—I was not in the Chair at that moment—the hon. Member for New Forest...
Julian Lewis | 488 c693 (Link to this contribution) On a separate point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Is there any way in which, within the rules, I can...
David Heath | 488 c692 (Link to this contribution) Further to that point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. [Interruption.] I am sorry to weary the House wi...
Pete Wishart | 488 c694 (Link to this contribution) Does the Secretary of State not agree that what we are passing tonight is nothing other than a compl...
Lord Maude of Horsham | 488 c695-6 (Link to this contribution) I do not have time to give way. The Liberal Democrats have occupied enough air time tonight and I am...
Jack Straw | 488 c694-5 (Link to this contribution) That was not an intervention in respect of Third Reading; it was merely a rant, and we shall leave i...
Gavin Strang | 488 c686 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. The decision to allow a vote on new clause 23, which was ...
Speaker | 488 c686-7 (Link to this contribution) This House passed a programme motion relating to the Bill on 9 February, and we must proceed in acco...
Viscount Hailsham | 488 c686 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker, which relates to a completely different matter. You were ...
David Heath | 488 c679 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I wonder whether there is any precedent for taking a Divi...
Gordon Prentice | 488 c686 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. My understanding is that we voted on new clause 23 althou...
Speaker | 488 c686 (Link to this contribution) Order. We are governed by a programme motion, and the opportunity to vote on any earlier amendments ...
David Heath | 488 c691 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. We have been experimenting this evening with a procedure th...
Speaker | 488 c691 (Link to this contribution) Not after 9 o'clock, when the timetable has come into effect. I understand that there is some concer...
Speaker | 488 c690 (Link to this contribution) Order. I cannot add a great deal to the ruling that has already been given from the Chair. We are op...
Chris Ruane | 488 c672 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Lady on record anywhere stating her belief in the importance of the comprehensiveness of...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 488 c673 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. That is not sufficient to scrutinise such proposals properly, so I wish to put it on the rec...
Andrew Love | 488 c672 (Link to this contribution) May I again point out the Conservatives' focus on ensuring the integrity of the register to the excl...
Lord Wills | 488 c673 (Link to this contribution) These are important points and I can give the hon. Lady exactly that assurance. I know that she is v...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 488 c673 (Link to this contribution) I take that as an assurance from the Minister on behalf of the Government that we will have proper t...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 488 c671 (Link to this contribution) Well, I shall indeed be gracious by giving way again to the Minister.
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 488 c671-2 (Link to this contribution) Well, had I had a chance to do so, I would have extolled at much greater length the virtues of indiv...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 488 c671 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way to the hon. Gentleman, but he must understand that his Liberal colleagues will not ...
Martin Horwood | 488 c671 (Link to this contribution) I am astonished by the Conservative party's failure to oppose these new clauses. Surely the principl...
Lord Wills | 488 c662 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and of course you are right, as always. [Interruption.] I know that t...
Chris Ruane | 488 c663 (Link to this contribution) I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way yet again. Does he think that the timetable, with its en...
Lord Wills | 488 c663 (Link to this contribution) If my hon. Friend bears with me for two or three minutes, I will come to that point, because the two...
Gavin Strang | 488 c666 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that my right hon. Friend is right to spell out just how historic this shift is, but when ...
Lord Wills | 488 c667 (Link to this contribution) I assume that the chorus of noises from the Liberal Democrats means that they agree with my hon. Fri...
David Howarth | 488 c667 (Link to this contribution) This point is important, and it is related to what the right hon. and learned Member for Sleaford an...
Lord Wills | 488 c667 (Link to this contribution) I will give way, but all that I can say is that these proceedings finish at 9 o'clock and that, at t...
David Heath | 488 c667 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister, but it is precisely the fact that he will not able to reveal the full...
David Heath | 488 c669 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady knows that we have had this argument before, with the Conservatives and the Liberal De...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 488 c669 (Link to this contribution) We welcome these new clauses. The Minister has stressed several times during his speech the fundamen...
Viscount Hailsham | 488 c670 (Link to this contribution) To reinforce what my hon. Friend has just said, I point out that the programme order provides that a...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 488 c669-70 (Link to this contribution) No, I shall not do so. The hon. Gentleman is correct: the Minister has this evening put before us a ...
Lord Wills | 488 c654 (Link to this contribution) I absolutely agree with the right hon. and learned Gentleman, and that is precisely what I said. It ...
Viscount Hailsham | 488 c653 (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister agree that another fundamental principle is that the registration should be accura...
Lord Wills | 488 c654-5 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point. The passage from which I am quoting does not ...
Chris Ruane | 488 c654 (Link to this contribution) Does the report that my right hon. Friend is quoting from make any reference to illiteracy? What is ...
Andrew Love | 488 c655 (Link to this contribution) I echo my right hon. Friend's comment that many electoral registration officers are doing an excelle...
Speaker | 488 c653 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss Government new clause 22—Schemes under section [Schemes f...
Martin Linton | 488 c658 (Link to this contribution) Since 25 November, many people renewing visas have been given identity cards containing their names ...
Lord Wills | 488 c656 (Link to this contribution) As I have said, what I am announcing today is only the start of a process to increase the numbers on...
Martin Horwood | 488 c659-60 (Link to this contribution) I understand what the Minister is saying, but it seems to me that the provisions breach one of the d...
Lord Wills | 488 c658-9 (Link to this contribution) As I have just said, I will be dealing with the subject of the protections, but the direct answer to...
Lord Wills | 488 c659 (Link to this contribution) If the intervention is about data protection principles, perhaps the hon. Gentleman will be a little...
Lord Wills | 488 c658 (Link to this contribution) No, not at present. We are proceeding carefully, in ways that I shall continue to outline. The quest...
Lord Wills | 488 c658 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, I will outline the scheme and then describe the protections i...
David Howarth | 488 c661 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I am not sure that we have been given the right information...
Lord Wills | 488 c661 (Link to this contribution) I shall be happy to give way when I have given the quote, but the hon. Gentleman should hear these w...
Lord Wills | 488 c660 (Link to this contribution) I am giving the hon. Gentleman the assurance in the House that that is what will happen—[Laughter.] ...
Lord Wills | 488 c660 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. and learned Gentleman makes a very helpful suggestion, and at the moment I think it i...
Martin Horwood | 488 c660 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is being very patient with me. I can see provision under the new clauses for a report b...
Viscount Hailsham | 488 c660 (Link to this contribution) That is very helpful, but we have to remember that the affirmative resolution is not amendable. Give...
Jack Straw | 488 c626 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman was a very participative member of the Hayden Phillips working party over many mo...
Jack Straw | 488 c625-6 (Link to this contribution) I agree with that, and there is a nice paradox, which I am sure political scientists will exercise t...
David Howarth | 488 c624 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I concede that there would be a gap, but it is a gap in time rather than a permanent gap in ter...
David Winnick | 488 c624 (Link to this contribution) I hope I am not making a party point here—heaven forbid!—but although the hon. Gentleman, whom I res...
James Brokenshire | 488 c623-4 (Link to this contribution) Before the hon. Gentleman draws his comments to a conclusion, I just want to make sure I fully under...
Pete Wishart | 488 c623 (Link to this contribution) I agree wholeheartedly with what the hon. Gentleman is trying to achieve. Is not one of the good thi...
David Howarth | 488 c623 (Link to this contribution) We would also end the situation whereby individuals gave the Labour party £1 million to change a pol...
David Howarth | 488 c623 (Link to this contribution) I cannot understand how the hon. Gentleman thinks that our proposal is the opposite, because we want...
David Howarth | 488 c637-8 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the support of the hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Mr. Shepherd). The sentime...
Jonathan Djanogly | 488 c630-1 (Link to this contribution) The Hayden Phillips talks took place and, for one reason or another, were not completed. As far as w...
Lord Tyrie | 488 c631-2 (Link to this contribution) This has been a very interesting debate. The proceedings of the Neill committee have been set out in...
David Heath | 488 c632 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman's memory deserts him. He must remember that during the talks I made it clear that...
Lord Tyrie | 488 c634-5 (Link to this contribution) There are two problems with that. First, we do not need to look in a crystal ball. We can read the b...
Jonathan Djanogly | 488 c630 (Link to this contribution) New clause 1, tabled by the hon. Member for Cambridge (David Howarth), proposes a cap on donations s...
Pete Wishart | 488 c629 (Link to this contribution) That was an interesting lesson from Canada, but the Secretary of State suggests that we should make ...
Jack Straw | 488 c629 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend raises a further issue of complexity, and we would have to think very hard before we ...
Philip Davies | 488 c628 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the Secretary of State has hit the nail on the head. Does he agree that the problem we face ...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 488 c674 (Link to this contribution) The principle is so important that I had hoped that tonight we might have several hours on new claus...
David Howarth | 488 c675 (Link to this contribution) This has been a remarkable hour and a half. Through a group of new clauses about data sharing, the G...
Speaker | 488 c678 (Link to this contribution) Order. In view of the comments that the hon. Gentleman has made, I have decided that in the circumst...
David Howarth | 488 c676 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. and learned Gentleman is entirely correct, given the momentous nature of the new clau...
David Howarth | 488 c677 (Link to this contribution) I do not know of any off the top of my head, but my point concerns the nature of the powers that are...
Jack Straw | 488 c694;488 c693-4 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time. In the short time available to me, I wish ...
Lord Beith | 488 c693 (Link to this contribution) Further to that point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. You were correct in saying that the decision tak...
Speaker | 488 c692 (Link to this contribution) I can give the hon. Gentleman a ruling straight away. What has happened is entirely clear. Once the ...
Simon Hughes | 488 c692-3 (Link to this contribution) Further to that point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I want to proceed only because it is fundamental...
Lord Maude of Horsham | 488 c695 (Link to this contribution) Tonight's episode has been a pretty unseemly end to what I believe the Justice Secretary will admit ...
Speaker | 488 c686 (Link to this contribution) The Chair does not give reasons for a decision that has been made. I have made a ruling, and that is...
Speaker | 488 c679 (Link to this contribution) I have made a decision, and given my ruling and the reasons why this vote has been taken. I have not...
Speaker | 488 c683 (Link to this contribution) We now have a number of consequential amendments to deal with. With the leave of the House, I would ...
Speaker | 488 c683 (Link to this contribution) Very well. We now come to amendment 140, which is to be moved formally.
Speaker | 488 c692;488 c691-2 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman is experienced enough to know that the Chair does not give reasons for the ...
Lord Deben | 488 c691 (Link to this contribution) Further to that point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I wonder whether it is possible to say whether t...
Viscount Hailsham | 488 c690 (Link to this contribution) Further to that point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Without in any sense wishing to question the dis...
David Howarth | 488 c690 (Link to this contribution) Further to that point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I, too, am disturbed by what has happened, but g...
Pete Wishart | 488 c689-90 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. In an extraordinary precedent, a Division has been allowed ...
Speaker | 488 c691 (Link to this contribution) We now come to Third Reading. I call Jack Straw.
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 488 c672-3 (Link to this contribution) I believe that I am on the record as saying that, but just in case, I am happy to go on the record r...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 488 c672 (Link to this contribution) I do not have the exact number at my fingertips, but that is not the point. The hon. Gentleman has m...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 488 c673 (Link to this contribution) In a moment. The hon. Member for Cambridge (David Howarth), the Minister and I have spent many hour...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 488 c671 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to confirm that we are in agreement; of course we want the register to be comprehensive. ...
Lord Wills | 488 c671 (Link to this contribution) I also want to be gracious to the hon. Lady, who is, in fact, being very gracious about these matter...
Speaker | 488 c678 (Link to this contribution) Order. In view of the comments that the hon. Gentleman has made, I have decided that in the circumst...
Lord Wills | 488 c591 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has a great deal of experience in party politics, and he is part of the select gr...
Lord Wills | 488 c592 (Link to this contribution) I have great respect for the hon. Gentleman. He makes a valuable point about transparency and we agr...
Lord Wills | 488 c588 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Lord Wills | 488 c601 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that I do not accept that for one second. We are not creating a loophole or relaxing the...
Lord Wills | 488 c664 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Lady reflects on that, she will see that the two timetables are not too different. As al...
Lord Wills | 488 c667 (Link to this contribution) I will consider that point carefully. There are issues about the identifiers. My instinct at the mom...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 488 c670 (Link to this contribution) As ever, my right hon. and learned Friend is absolutely correct. Indeed, the method of dealing with ...
Simon Hughes | 488 c692 (Link to this contribution) Further to that point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. On the matter of the new clause that was moved e...
Rob Marris | 488 c600 (Link to this contribution) On indexation, my right hon. Friend has already talked about simplicity, and we are all well aware t...
Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 488 c671 (Link to this contribution) I am coming to the point about data security. I am also being careful to stay within the rules and n...
Speaker | 488 c692 (Link to this contribution) There is a distinction between the amendments and new clauses proposed by the Government and all oth...

Subjects

Disclosure of information
Data protection
Candidates
Finance
Elections
Donors
Expenditure
Electoral Commission
Electoral register
Increases
Gifts and endowments
Political parties
Public finance
Registration
Standards
Trade unions
Electoral registration officers

Legislation

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

Link

View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk
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