Political Parties and Elections Bill

I recognise the powerful, if emotional, appeal made by the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours. Some aspects of what he is thinking about are more complicated than they first appear. I am not sure that membership of your Lordships’ House is a good comparator with the ability to vote. He prayed in aid the new Appointments Commission procedures. It seems to me that, when appointing one of 750 members of a legislature, you will have a higher, or different, standard than for someone who will be one of 50 million voters, because the influence is much greater. There are two practical points for the noble Lord to bear in mind. The first is that we recognise that a large proportion of our population—often the most talented part—may serve overseas for a period of time. I lived in the United States for five years, and so do many other people. In your period of overseas service, you may cease to be resident for tax purposes in the United Kingdom. Those people who intend to return to the United Kingdom should not in those circumstances be precluded from participating in our elections. That is recognised by the fact that you can continue to vote if you live overseas for 15 years—it used to be 20 years—by remaining on the register here. The noble Lord should address that issue. The second point is the question of residency and domicile for tax purposes. The noble Lord, Lord Bach, and I were in this Room on Tuesday afternoon discussing perpetuities and accumulations. Residence and domicile for tax purposes is almost as complicated as perpetuities and accumulations. The simple issue of being resident for tax purposes is not a permanent state; you may drop in and out of being resident for tax purposes along the way. Therefore, I am not sure that his case will work in a practical way. I do not wish to sound as though I am trying to deride every proposal. I hope that when we get to Amendment 108, which talks about a cap on donations and provides a blanket answer to the particular problem that he proposes, the noble Lord will be prepared to speak in favour of it as being at least a halfway house to what he is seeking to achieve here.