Electoral Administration Bill

I am very clear. The spending should be counted against the election limits for the specific candidate. I am working on the assumption that central party organisations do not send out vast quantities of material without the local candidate’s at least acquiescing, if not with his or her prior knowledge. I accept that that assumption is questionable, but nevertheless we can deal effectively with the mischief only by having proper control. The practice has been growing among all parties. Certainly, a significant number of letters were addressed to individuals in my constituency from the right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard), and I know that people had letters from my right hon. Friend the Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Mr. Kennedy). Let us not be silly about this: we all know it is being done by the national parties in a competitive environment and I think it is an abuse and that we need to deal with it.