Political Parties and Elections Bill

This seems to be quite popular. Perhaps I will arrange a whip-round after the debate. I am grateful to the Minister for taking on board the points that have been raised about indexation. I am slightly concerned, however, given the very useful evidence sessions and the large number of very useful Committee sittings, that the Government did not table these amendments earlier. It would have assisted them if there had been a greater gap between the evidence sessions and the Committee sittings, so that they could have tabled amendments to be considered by this House rather than another place. Sometimes, the devil is in the detail and, all things remaining equal, I can imagine the House of Lords being less aware of electoral practices, and our getting into a position in which the system becomes more complex than it needs to be. In addition to indexation, I want to talk about how the threshold is raised. I am minded to think that the idea of raising it at a general election is a good one. In that way, there would not be a problem with raising it from £500 to £512. I think that we should raise it to a round number—perhaps £550 or £600. In relation to wanting to raise the maximum amount of revenue from private individuals, will the Minister give consideration to years in which there are two general elections, as happened in 1974? Heaven forbid that we should find ourselves in that position in 15 months' time, or before, if the country remains undecided about who they want to solve the problems that the Government have got us into. However, if we do end up in that position, we, as politicians, would surely want private individuals to be able to contribute twice the annual limit, rather than being constrained by that limit. On new clause 19, which I shall deal with before briefly concluding on amendment 121, will the Minister look at connected parties? Although I fully endorse the movement from £200 to £500, if a family of five adults all contributed a smidgeon under £500, that would amount to £2,500 and over an electoral cycle of four years—the norm, if the Government are not running scared and so go the full term—it would mean a donation of £10,000. In addition, if those five individuals living under the same roof set up an unincorporated association, they could yet again make an even larger contribution. I would appreciate it if the Minister, as well as making concessions on new clause 19, looked again at connected parties. Finally, if we are to get people to donate the maximum amount from their own pockets rather than relying on the state, the trade unions and business, it is essential for the Government to take a close look at amendment 121 and associated issues. People wishing to donate money should not be assumed to be buying influence or to be potential criminals. Innocent mistakes can happen, and everything the Bill does should encourage people to make political donations, and, indeed, to be proud of making them and proud to back the vitality of our democracy. They should not be fearful of being hauled through the courts for a minor misdemeanour.