My Lords, I certainly have no intention of trying to remove Clause 2 from the Bill but this gives me an opportunity to seek clarification on what it might involve. I did not speak at Second Reading although I have, of course, read Hansard. I am only going to make a few comments that could be construed as a Second Reading contribution. The Bill as a whole has admirable objectives and, I am sure, the best of motives. However, I have severe doubts, to put it mildly, about the practicality of being able to sit down with a rather ill-defined group of people and reach a decision within about 12 months about a document that would effectively stand as the constitution of the United Kingdom and the devolved legislatures.
I will leave that comment aside because I want to concentrate on one area where perhaps there could be some clarity—Clause 2—in which, on my reading of the Bill, there is not clarity at the moment. Clause 2(c) says that the convention must consider,
“the reform of the electoral system”.
My question is: which electoral system? In a way, this illustrates the problem with the Bill, that unless there is clarity and a better definition of precisely what the convention is going to look at, the scope for endless debate and discussion is pretty limitless.
Noon
There are, I think, currently seven different electoral systems operating within the United Kingdom. No doubt someone who is more of an anorak on the subject than I am could find some more. But as far as I can tot them up, we have the system that applies in Scotland and Wales for parliamentary elections for the devolved Parliament and Assembly; obviously,
there is first past the post for general elections in the country; there is the European electoral system; there is the Scottish local election system; there are systems for the mayoral elections; and there are different procedures in Northern Ireland. So I think it is legitimate—and I hope not seen as an overly critical—to ask: which electoral system are we supposed to be reforming under this clause?
My starting point is that I hope there is no suggestion that there is going to be any attempt within this convention to look again at the electoral system for the United Kingdom Parliament, not just because I happen to be strongly in favour of the present system but because, as we all know, that view is shared by the vast majority of the British people. Asked as recently as three years ago, “Do you favour the first past the post system?”, they said by a majority of two to one that they certainly did. The response was in the affirmative for every constituency in the United Kingdom apart from about six; it was certainly in single figures. I do not think anyone would seriously suggest that we should have another referendum on that within a generation. Indeed, I know that the people who took part in that discussion, debate and referendum all acknowledge that it was, to coin a phrase, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I tend to take those commitments seriously, as I do as far as the Scottish referendum is concerned, by the way, but let us not go there at the moment.
If it does not mean the general election system, as it surely cannot—we cannot revisit that two or three years after there has been such a conclusive decision by the British people—which electoral system does Clause 2(c) refer to? Perhaps we could have clarity on that, which would help the clarity of the Bill overall. I look forward to hearing the response to that.