Political Parties and Elections Bill

At one stage during the course of this Bill there was a consensus—in the Division lobbies when the Julian Lewis amendment went through that evening. This is an important issue and I support the Lewis amendment strongly. My instinct was initially to support the Liberal position until I had a couple of conversations. The first happened over dinner in the Commons and the second was with my wife. It was the one with my wife that proved most interesting, and the Liberals may want to consider what she said, because I think that she was expressing the view of many families up and down the country. My wife’s view was that every time I raised a controversial issue on the Floor of the House of Commons, I was not taking into account the position in which I was placing my family. There were times in the early 1990s when I was most vociferous on Iraq, calling for military intervention. I had been at the inaugural conference of the INC in Istanbul—in 1992, if I remember rightly. I had been meeting regularly with Iraqi opposition politicians in London. At one point, I had a conversation with a police officer from the county of Cumbria about the position in the event that any threats were made against my family, because that had been raised by my wife at the time—I unreasonably dismissed it. I know that during the Iraqi conflict, particularly in the 1990s, when sanctions were very controversial, a number of British Members of Parliament were given warnings by the police. I spoke last night to one Member who was told by the police that car crashes were being arranged by Saddam Hussein’s supporters in London. I know that that Member of Parliament was involved in an incident at a conference in Paris when the police had to close the conference because of threats to representatives of the Iraqi opposition. I know that that Member of Parliament was advised by the police to take particular measures to deal with any problems that might arise. Last night I spoke to Tom King—I am sorry, to the noble Lord, Lord King of Bridgwater. I asked him about an incident that happened to him, which I remember from my period on the Intelligence and Security Committee. I asked him about it to ensure that it was already in the public domain. Some may remember the incident. His daughter happened to notice while she was on horseback some people at the bottom of the garden or a nearby field. She happened to mention it to the security people on duty outside the noble Lord’s home. They went to check and it turned out that the people were a surveillance squad for the IRA. I understand that they were subsequently prosecuted and went to prison for a year and a half. What I am saying is that it is not just a question of evidence of a threat; it is whether the families of Members of Parliament feel that, when their spouses, fathers, mothers or whatever get up in Parliament and speak on a controversial issue, they are creating a sense of insecurity within that household.