Scottish Parliament (Candidates) Bill [HL]

My Lords, as a Welshman I venture into very dangerous territory. In doing so, we know that the Government of Wales Bill will be before us before long. The noble Lord, in proposing his Bill today, said that part of the Government’s recommendation is the end of dual candidatures. I am delighted that the opposition of the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, to proportional representation is at least rejected by the Government. There was a debate in Westminster Hall on 15 February. The Scotland Office Minister, David Cairns, said of the Arbuthnott report, Putting Citizens First, that:"““An element of proportional representation is an essential feature””.—[Official Report, Commons, 15/2/06; col. 505WH.]" So I am delighted that the Government see that the present system is totally unacceptable. In Wales the Richard commission—I am delighted to see the noble Lord present this afternoon—was in favour of proportionality; the additional member, the top up of a list, or, going further than that, ideally, the single transferable vote. If you use the single transferable vote in a multi-member constituency, every member is elected with the same authority. There are no first-class or second-class members. There are no winners or losers there. When you talk of winners and losers, you are talking only about the first-past-the-post system, not any other system.