Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

My Lords, I do not want to detain the Committee but, until I read the Marshalled List, I was unaware of the issue that my noble friend Lord Foulkes of Cumnock was going to raise. The more I think about it, the proposition in the Bill is utterly ludicrous. The Liberal Democrats must understand that the idea that we will have joint platforms either for or against the question being answered positively does not arise. The Liberal Democrats more than any other party should know of the bitterness that often exists at local level during campaigning. How is it possible to have a full, honest, open and participatory debate if the people at the heart of it are factionalised and arguing among themselves about the greater issue of who will be in Parliament and who will be on the local authority? I cannot understand the logic. Who is driving this on? Where is all the pressure coming from? After four days of listening to these debates, have not Liberal Democrats and the coalition realised that there might be something wrong with the way in which we are proceeding, particularly when some of us are passionately in favour of electoral reform? We are worried that it will all go wrong. The only way forward, it seems to me, is for the parties in the coalition to sit down privately, without telling anyone, and to think through again whether there is a need to further amend the proposed legislation, perhaps even against the new timetable. What is the pressure for the timetable? Why in the first year are we faced with a Bill for a five-year fixed-term Parliament? Why are we so preoccupied in this year one in getting through the legislation in this form? Can we not afford another 12 or 18 months? What will be lost by delaying and getting the question and the process right? We would then have a chance of a successful resolution. We are being stampeded into a decision. It is like a panic-based decision, which will result in it all coming apart. If it does not come apart, we will end up with the wrong system. The Conservative element of the coalition will be faced with an electoral system for which it will be held responsible historically. Why cannot the coalition just sit down for perhaps a matter of months to reconsider this part of the legislation with a view to coming back following the inquiry that a number of us have asked for, having decided on a proper system and process? I cannot imagine what is going to happen. The idea that somehow in Glasgow you will get the SNP, Liberal Democrats, Conservatives, Uncle Tom Cobbleigh and whoever all on the same platform arguing one way or the other is ludicrous. Unless you have unity of purpose among the politicians, how are you going to win? As I have heard said at some meetings, it might be that the people who support electoral reform do not really want the politicians to be involved. They say that they want a people’s campaign. Ultimately, it will not be a people’s campaign because it is going to be dominated by politicians. However, the politicians will be warring among themselves on wider issues over and above the referendum. I appeal to the Government. This is really the Liberal Democrat end of the Bill, which is why I direct my remarks on all this to them. They are driving this agenda. They must sit down and think what is in their best interests. The noble Lord, Lord Hamilton, says that he has been told that the Liberal Democrats believe that they will not be beneficiaries under the system. They will be beneficiaries—we all know that—and I do not object to that at all. However, they do not realise that they will lose under the boundaries part of the Bill. Perhaps when we get to that part and I produce data that will be of interest to them, they will realise that they will lose under that part more than they do under this one. But that is another debate for another day. I say to the coalition, ““Please sit down again and take stock””. Are we on the right path? Could we make amendments that would produce a better Bill, better legislation, better procedure, a better question, a better campaign overall and more chance of seeing something come out of Parliament that will satisfy the demands of the electorate?