Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

My Lords, this is the sort of opportunity that the Government should take. My noble friend Lord Rooker’s amendment is modest and sensible. He is saying that it would be possible for the Government to have the referendum on any date between 5 May and 31 October 2011. He is not addressing the combination issue; nor is he addressing how long it would take to have proper debates. He is saying, ““Give yourselves some flexibility””. There are obviously two reasons for flexibility. The first is in relation to the administration of the election. In relation to the administration of the referendum, the Electoral Commission believes that, "““on balance … it should be possible to deliver the different polls proposed for 5 May 2011””." I am quoting the chairman of the Electoral Commission when giving evidence to the Scottish Parliament. It is to be noted that that conclusion, she says, is expressly contingent upon ““the key practical risks”” being ““properly managed””. The Electoral Commission has several times repeated that, "““the rules on how the referendum will be conducted must be clear from at least six months in advance””." We are now less than six months in advance from the date of the referendum. It has added that, "““provided the Bill receives Royal Assent in time to allow a referendum period of at least 10 weeks, there will be adequate time for the Commission to register campaigners and designate lead campaigning organisations, and for campaigners to put the arguments to voters””." Put neutrally, it is pretty obvious that there is a significant risk that the administration will not be ready by 5 May 2011. That should be looked at in the context of the Government not having consulted, before they chose 5 May 2011, either the Scottish Parliament or the Welsh Assembly. The Scottish Executive expressed the view that holding the referendum on 5 May 2011, "““shows a lack of respect for the devolved administrations””," and, "““undermines the integrity of elections to the Scottish Parliament””." As everybody knows, the Welsh Assembly Government are likewise opposed to holding the referendum on the same day as the Assembly elections. The Select Committee of this House published its seventh report of the Session 2010-11. It was printed on 10 November 2010 and its cross-party unanimous conclusion was: "““Given that the Bill was introduced in the House only six months before the proposed referendum date, there is a danger that these deadlines will not be met””." The obvious and sensible conclusion for the Government is to give themselves leeway if they cannot meet the deadlines, either because of organisational issues or issues in relation to scrutiny. A Government who say no to that are a Government in their early days. If they were more sensible, they would say, ““Yes, I see the force of the argument and we will agree to that””. If the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, pushes the matter to a vote, we will support it.