Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill (Money) (No. 3)

I think we have had a good debate. Amid all the arcane discussion of electoral technology, various important points of principle have emerged. Before I turn to some of the detail, let me highlight three key points. Nearly all the Members who spoke touched on the question of partisan advantage in the different systems, and much play was made of extrapolations by various academics. I caution Members not to take voters for granted—voters tend to get the Government they want regardless of the electoral system that is in place—and I say to Members who are relying on professors that even professors can be wrong. This issue must be treated as one of principle, or it should not be treated at all. Secondly, there is the difficult question of which principles should be engaged. I am glad that the right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard) is present. He rightly drew attention to the fungible nature of the term ““fairness””. I commend to all Members an admirable document entitled ““Review of Voting Systems””, which tries to assess the various voting systems according to seven criteria—proportionality, participation, the stability and effectiveness of government, the impact on voters, social representation, political campaigning and the impact on administration—and reaches very different conclusions. There are strong, principled arguments on all sides of this debate, and we have heard them from both sides of the Chamber this evening. The Government have made it clear that our objective is to enhance the legitimacy of the system, and I was glad that, in a good speech, the hon. Member for Cambridge (David Howarth) said exactly that. Others may seek different ends from their electoral system, but that is what we seek. Finally, let me deal with the question of who should decide the electoral system. In discussing our proposal, the Conservatives more or less exhausted the dictionary in seeking synonyms for scorn and contempt, but I remind them that all we are asking is for the British people to be able to decide. I fail to understand why that should excite such opposition from the Conservative party.