Electoral Administration Bill

The noble Lord invites me to intervene and far be it from me to refuse. The reason why I have not spoken much about these matters in Grand Committee is that it is widely recognised that there are problems related to these issues. Although they are not restricted to particular ethnic groups, these problems have been most severe within certain ethnic groups in this country. I did not think it necessary to come to the Committee and explain it all again, because the point is now much more widely understood, not least, for example, because of the Birmingham court case and a number of other instances. Five years ago, people were saying, ““We don’t think this is a real problem””. They now accept that it is, even though not many cases come to court. I have not spoken at length, because we should be concentrating on the other issues. Nevertheless, I welcome the noble Lord’s acceptance and understanding of what goes on and the difficulties of trying to stop it—difficulties faced by all the parties, including my own, I have to say.