Electoral Administration Bill

I would credit the hon. Gentleman for just one point there. He may not remember, but the poll tax or community charge was longer ago than 10 years. It may be fresh in his memory because it is mentioned so often in his leaflets. It is often argued that nobody knows their national insurance number, but I am glad that the hon. Gentleman did not make that point, because it is a terribly middle-class point to make. The fact is that the deprived people in our society—people claiming benefits, those in receipt of weekly pay packets and so forth—know their national insurance numbers, because they see them more often than others. I know my national insurance number and I suspect that the hon. Gentleman knows his. I want to continue with my argument because I am making a serious point about individual registration and do not want to talk just about national insurance numbers. If we believe in one person, one vote, then individual voter registration is the right way forward. Why should someone else register for us? The concept of a head of household is an old-fashioned and, I believe, inappropriate way of dealing with the problem. Many homes in multiple occupation simply do not have a head of household to whom one could point. It also reinforces a stereotype, saying to young people that this is someone else’s business, not theirs. If the form is completed and personal identifiers are adduced for a whole household in multiple occupation, there is a risk of electoral fraud.