Electoral Administration Bill

moved Amendment No. 105:"After Clause 55, insert the following new clause—" ““POLICY DEVELOPMENT GRANTS: ELIGIBILITY (1)   In section 12 of the 2000 Act leave out subsection (1)(b) and insert— ““(b)   a registered party is ““represented”” if there are at least two Members of— (i) the House of Commons, who have made and subscribed the oath required by the Parliamentary Oaths Act 1866 (or the corresponding affirmation), or (ii)   the Northern Ireland Assembly, or (iii)   the Scottish Parliament, or (iv)   the Welsh Assembly, belonging to the party who are not disqualified from sitting or voting in their respective Parliament or Assembly.”” (2)   The Schedule to the Elections (Policy Development Grants Scheme) Order 2006 (S.I. 2006/602) is amended as follows. (3)   In paragraph 3(2) insert— ““(h) the Ulster Unionist Party””. (4)   In paragraph 5(b) after first ““party”” insert ““, the Ulster Unionist party””. (5)   In paragraph 9(a) after first ““party”” insert ““, the Ulster Unionist party””. (6)   In paragraph 9(b) leave out ““two”” and insert ““three””.”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, I shall move this amendment on behalf of the noble Lord, Lord Dubs, who I understand has been unavoidably detained. Since the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 there has been a significant constitutional change in so far as assemblies established within the past 10 years have now developed into stable and important institutions of democracy. I assure your Lordships that this amendment is necessary not simply because the electoral success of my own political party at the last general election was less than enviable—I hope that is but a temporary aberration—but because it is essential that no political party contributing positively to the democratic process should be disadvantaged. This amendment is in two parts. The first deals with the conditions applied to parties that qualify for political development grants. Whereas the qualification was formerly to have two Members in the House of Commons who had made and subscribed to the oath required by the Parliamentary Oaths Act 1886, it is now important that we should recognise the significance of the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the Northern Ireland Assembly. Amendment No. 105 thus adds a comparable provision in respect of those assemblies to Section 12 of the 2000 Act. The amendment would also ensure that the anomaly currently allowing Sinn Fein, which does not participate in the business of the House of Commons, to benefit from parliamentary allowances and Short money while my party—the Ulster Unionist Party—which has sacrificed a great deal, including electoral success, in its determination to implement the 1998 Belfast agreement and continues to do so, no longer qualifies on the basis of its current representation in the House of Commons. The Electoral Commission has already recognised the anomaly and, in effect, supports the concept of making amends. Over the next six months, the Ulster Unionist Party will carry a huge responsibility as a major participant in what has just been initiated today: the new Northern Ireland Assembly negotiations. Potentially, the party will be the holder of three ministerial posts in any future assembly in Northern Ireland. Therein lies the reason why there should be a change to the qualification in respect of political parties. I will not waste the time of the House by going into the detail of the second part of the amendment. It relates to the Schedule to the Elections (Policy Development Grants Scheme) Order 2006 and seeks to make provision for the Ulster Unionist Party to be added to the list of parties that are registered and for other consequential issues that require to be put in order. I beg to move.