Government of Wales Bill

If the hon. Gentleman rereads a debate that we had in the past it would save me a lot of time in highlighting why we think that his research is desperately flawed. Indeed, I have little doubt that that research will go on to prove that he is the greatest politician who ever stood—in Caerphilly—and that Labour is the greatest party ever to represent Wales. [Interruption.] The sheeplike noises from the Labour Members back up that assumption. My point is that that was the only research that we heard in defence of the change. The final defence for the change, which we heard from the Secretary of State, is that the current electoral arrangements have been subject to, in his words,"““systematic abuse for party advantage by Opposition parties””." He must acknowledge that the Electoral Reform Society—which does not have a party interest in supporting one system or another—said that"““a ban on dual candidacy will not provide a solution to this dilemma—whether or not they are permitted to stand as constituency candidates, there is nothing to stop list candidates from targeting particular constituencies on behalf of their parties.””" The ERS concludes:"““We urge the Government to reconsider their plan to ban dual candidacy, a controversial and divisive argument for which the case has not adequately been made.””"