European Union (Referendum) Bill

It is a very important issue.

All right, I will give way very briefly.

I thank my hon. Friend for his generosity. I would like clarification. Amendment 7 uses the term ...

As I have said, the Electoral Commission needs to consider all of these aspects carefully. Public...

I hear what my hon. Friend is saying, but the Government did eventually, under pressure, accept a...

I do not expect the House to vote on all my amendments. There are some amendments that I will not...

My hon. Friend has not commented on the amendments that have been tabled by those on his Front Be...

Of course I am sympathetic to those amendments. I have not commented on them because they have no...

This group of amendments deals with various matters pertaining to the detailed conduct of the pro...

Will the Minister give way?

No, I am going to make progress.

Amendments 5 to 7 and 84 propose arrangements for the refe...

Will the Minister give way?

No.

Amendments 16, 64 and 65 propose detailed rules on the conduct of the referendum.

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Surely it is a tradition of the House that when one Fr...

The hon. Gentleman has made his point. He knows that it is not a point on which I should rule fro...

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

Amendments 16, 64 and 65 propose detailed rules for the co...

I start by congratulating you, Madam Deputy Speaker, on your elevation to the Chair. This is the ...

Before my hon. Friend starts to develop his arguments, I must say that the significance of what t...

I could not have put it better myself. Indeed, I was going to use the word “shameful” to describe...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend and my hon. Friend the Member for Caerphilly (Wayne David) for th...

Yes, I recall; I was in the Chamber at the time. I withdraw any inadvertent slight against those ...

I can reassure my hon. Friend; he need not think that some of us do not believe he voted in that ...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who I think is also a vegetarian. I was just about to say that m...

Many hon. Members might think this a significant departure from current practice, and in many way...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who sets out the case very effectively. This is not such a huge ...

In the countries that my hon. Friend has cited, does he agree that there is no obligation for ind...

Absolutely. It would clearly be completely wrong—and, indeed, anti-democratic—to impose any oblig...

My hon. Friend is making a very important point about the importance of people voting in election...

Yes, that is a very regrettable fact of life. My hon. Friend’s intervention reinforces the notion...

I find myself in the unique position of disagreeing with my hon. Friend on his amendment. I jib a...

That is certainly a valid point. As I was saying in my opening remarks, I understand that some pe...

I hear what my hon. Friend says, and I have some sympathy with it. Does he not believe, however, ...

I hear what my hon. Friend says. I shall come on in a few moments to comment briefly on the amend...

Forgive me if I missed this in my hon. Friend’s opening remarks, but did he explain how he arrive...

I accept that £50 is a fairly arbitrary figure. I did not want to make it so high that it was unr...

Order. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman is well aware that he must stick specifically to the que...

rose—

I give way to my hon. Friend.

My hon. Friend has said that he will reference the amendments of my hon. Friend the Member for Il...

Indeed I was going to refer to those amendments. Suffice it to say that they are sensible. We nee...

The figure is very important. There was a not dissimilar debate a little while ago about the leve...

I am not too familiar with the levels of parking fines. I never transgress parking restrictions w...

I was going to take my hon. Friend back to the original premise of his amendment and ask whether ...

I hope it does not. I believe that the force of our argument is so strong that it will convince a...

May I just press my hon. Friend? Can he not see the headline in one of our nationals that says, “...

Indeed. I was just about to correct my hon. Friend’s figure.

Exactly.

I was thinking, “Hold on, did I put another zero in my amendment?” I clearly did not. There is a ...

Order. While I appreciate that the hon. Gentleman would like to consider this penalty issue at so...

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker; I will certainly do that. There was a lot more that I wanted to ...

It is a pleasure to speak in this debate at last. I thought for a minute that it was never going ...

Will the hon. Gentleman comment on the scenario I touched on, in which the percentage turnout is ...

The principle of turnout in British elections has always been that whatever the quantum of votes,...

rose—

I will give way once to the hon. Gentleman.

I do not intend to intervene again. I just want to point out that in the 1970s this House introdu...

That brings me neatly on to amendment 17, which seeks to impose a threshold of 60%. The suggestio...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No, I will not, I am afraid. We need to make progress on this Bill today.

rose—

I will give way once to the hon. Gentleman.

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman and understand his appetite to move on. I hope that when he r...

I am certainly more sympathetic to those amendments. The idea of an audit is, I think, a little s...

rose—

I will not give way, because I have given way to the hon. Gentleman already and I think the Bill ...

I am grateful to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for calling me to contribute briefly to the debate. I...

I remember with fondness the time when my hon. Friend was the Friday Whip—he was a very good one....

It is not for me to respond on behalf of right hon. or hon. Members. When I was a private Member’...

I shall keep my comments brief, because hon. Members want to make progress and I want the process...

My hon. Friend will be aware that the Government—at least the Conservative party—have already beh...

My hon. Friend makes a good point. We touched on that issue in our debate last Friday, and the po...

I have listened to my hon. Friend’s argument and I think that there is a lot in it. What he perha...

Order. I have allowed a great many interventions during this debate. Everyone who has indicated t...

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I would simply say that I agree with my hon. Friend’s interventi...

It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friends the Members for Ilford South (Mike Gapes), for Derby N...

Does my hon. Friend agree that that is doubly disappointing, given how much respect and high rega...

My hon. Friend has made his point, and he is accurate.

I wish to speak to amendments 84 and...

Does my hon. Friend agree that the single piece of legislation on Europe that centred powers in B...

My hon. Friend is right. The Conservative party has taken through this House and the other place ...

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Fridays are for private Members’ business, and that is...

The hon. Gentleman appreciates that the Chair has power over many things and many people, but the...

As I was saying, following the amendment tabled by the hon. Member for Windsor, we know that the ...

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am afraid that I must report an error in the number ...

Order. I can tell by the reaction that we are all eternally grateful for the correction of the re...

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.

We have had extensive debate, disc...

It is a pleasure to be here today discussing the weaknesses and divisions within the Conservative...

It is a pleasure to speak briefly on the Third Reading of this important Bill.