Political Parties and Elections Bill

I am very grateful to the Minister for explaining the reasoning behind government Amendment 9, and to the Deputy Chairman for explaining that there will be pre-emption if we agree to it, and that, therefore, we would be unable to move our Amendment 10. This matter was explored by our colleagues in another place and at that stage the Government resisted this issue, but admitted at least that they would have another look at it. I am grateful that they have accepted the argument that we put forward at that stage that the High Court would be a more suitable place for considering these matters and that, following the consultation that the Minister mentioned, that would not impose an undue burden on the High Court, given that the use of these orders would be somewhat infrequent. We tabled our amendment and, as the Minister has explained, it is not quite as good as the Government’s, in that I forgot to look at the extent clause in the Bill. This is often done by people who live as close to the border as I do, and I forgot that Clause 28, which deals with the extent of the Bill, explains very properly that it covers the entire United Kingdom, including Scotland, which has a different legal system from ours. Therefore, I am grateful that the Government have drafted their amendment in a slightly more comprehensive manner and have included the courts in Scotland. We are grateful to the Government that they have come forward with their amendment. We will not oppose its passage at this stage and, therefore, we will not move our Amendment 10.