Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

My Lords, continuing my attempt to be reasonably even-handed in these debates, I have a variety of views. On the previous exchange, which I had not expected, I am entirely on the side of the noble Lord, Lord Lipsey, because I am aware that there are endless examples of requirements or practices that ensure that information is delivered to all households in the country. I guess that the latest such example is the widespread circulation of leaflets on how to avoid flu during the winter, but there have certainly been electoral examples as well. On the amendments, my feelings are mixed. I half sympathise with the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Rooker; I am worried about the first amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Lipsey—for reasons that I will come back to—but I support his second amendment very strongly because, whatever materials are produced, it would be helpful if they were looked over by someone who writes the kind of English that everybody can understand. One of our latest arrivals, the noble Baroness, Lady Lister, will recognise from our association some 30 years ago that I used to be driven to distraction by social security material being produced in a form that no normal person could understand. I seem to remember that we got the Plain English Campaign involved to try to help us improve things, and I think that they have improved. Some effort needs to be put into making sure that whatever goes out uses terms that can be understood. Lastly and briefly, my reservations about the intermediate amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Lipsey, are that, by putting in a legal requirement for a leaflet to be ““impartial and unbiased””, we would be incorporating a matter of judgment that it appears to me would, in certain circumstances, keep the courts—I am conscious that there are many noble and learned Lords here—occupied for years. I see the noble Lord, Lord Phillips, smiling, as he knows that his firm could do it.