Political Parties and Elections Bill

I apologise for arriving late at the Committee. I also apologise for taking noble Lords beyond four o’clock when they all have things to do. I want to say a few things from a practical point of view. I completely agree with the noble Lord, Lord Tyler, about getting public perception right, and I obviously endorse many of the things that Andrew Tyrie said in the other place. The purpose of the Bill is partly to make party funding easier and more transparent. However, I am afraid that I do not believe that the amendment, as presented, makes it more transparent; it makes it more difficult for the parties to practically operate and police the giving of donations. How is there a means of finding out the dynamic of a shareholder register during the period of a gift? How can you police each individual shareholder of a party as a party treasurer or compliance officer? Who can determine their status? It should not be incumbent on the political party to act as policeman for companies’ shareholder registers. The two criteria by which we have to transact, as does the noble Lord as party treasurer, are as follows. First, is the company UK-registered? That strikes me as being fair enough. Secondly, is it a company that trades? Once those two criteria have been met, it becomes almost impossible to police the shareholder register. Whereas I am extremely sympathetic, as I am sure are all of us in this Room, with the wish to clear up public perception and find a method whereby we can control these issues, I do not believe, with due deference to the noble Lord, that this works on a practical level.