Parliamentary search - Electoral Administration Bill

Jim Devine | 438 c210-2 (Link to this contribution) Let me say first that this is a truly magnificent place, and it is a great honour to represent my co...

Speaker | 438 c210 (Link to this contribution) I remind all right hon. and hon. Members that Mr. Speaker has imposed a 12-minute limit on Back-Benc...

Show all contributions (150)

Rob Wilson | 438 c201 (Link to this contribution) The Minister cited Birmingham as a high-profile case, but is she aware that there are several smalle...

Baroness Harman | 438 c201-3 (Link to this contribution) The Bill will extend the time in which the police can investigate before they prosecute. I do not kn...

Lord Spellar | 438 c200-1 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. and learned Friend be cautious when following suggestions about individual regist...

Baroness Harman | 438 c201 (Link to this contribution) The points that my right hon. Friend makes are absolutely right. It is helpful for the House to hear...

Baroness Harman | 438 c199-200 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a number of points about other data that are available that ought to inform the...

Philip Davies | 438 c200 (Link to this contribution) Is the Minister aware that police in Bradford, which is where I am from, have examined approximately...

Baroness Harman | 438 c200 (Link to this contribution) That is a good idea, although I would have to work out whether it would require primary or secondary...

Baroness Harman | 438 c200 (Link to this contribution) I have a bit of a problem because although many hon. Members are making important interventions, I r...

Baroness Harman | 438 c200 (Link to this contribution) We will continue to allow people to choose to vote by post if they want to. We want to increase part...

Baroness Harman | 438 c193 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. As Members of this House, we are all here b...

Speaker | 438 c193 (Link to this contribution) I must inform the House that Mr. Speaker has selected the reasoned amendment in the name of the Lead...

Oliver Heald | 438 c194 (Link to this contribution) On behalf of her party, does the Minister accept any responsibility for the fact that electoral serv...

Baroness Harman | 438 c194 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is exactly right. The Electoral Commission also reported last month, and it found tha...

Andrew Love | 438 c194 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. and learned Friend will be aware of the particular problems in London, where 21 of the...

Tim Farron | 438 c195 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. and learned Lady reflect that we provide citizenship education for our young peo...

Baroness Harman | 438 c194-5 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman shares a borough and its electoral registration services with me, and he makes a ...

Simon Hughes | 438 c194 (Link to this contribution) The Minister will know that I share her concern and also her commitment to ensuring that many more p...

Lord Pickles | 438 c195 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. and learned Lady understand that this is not a mechanism? The failure to registe...

Baroness Harman | 438 c195 (Link to this contribution) The problem of young people not voting is so acute that, with respect, I would say to right hon. and...

Lembit Opik | 438 c196 (Link to this contribution) The Minister makes interesting points about young people. She opened the door a little to the prospe...

Baroness Harman | 438 c195-6 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman. Many of us in this place—I and colleagues on both sides of the Cham...

Peter Robinson | 438 c197 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the Minister’s remarks about ensuring that the armed forces have a greater opportunity to ...

Baroness Harman | 438 c197 (Link to this contribution) I hope that I can allay my right hon. Friend’s concerns when I reach the next passage in my speech, ...

Lord Tyrie | 438 c196 (Link to this contribution) What estimate have the Government made of the number of service voters who were unable to vote becau...

Baroness Harman | 438 c196 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman advances strongly the arguments that are in favour of changing the voting age and...

Baroness Harman | 438 c197 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has been to the fore in bringing that to our attention and he is right to express...

Baroness Harman | 438 c198 (Link to this contribution) We need to be sure that the concerted efforts to be made by the MOD, the Electoral Commission and th...

Oliver Heald | 438 c198 (Link to this contribution) : As the Minister will know, originally service personnel filled in a service voter card and were th...

Baroness Harman | 438 c197 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for the points that he made in our meeting last week. We all need to work...

Peter Viggers | 438 c197 (Link to this contribution) At a meeting last week, the Minister told me that there had been considerable discussions between he...

Baroness Harman | 438 c197 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I could discuss that with my ministerial colleagues in the Northern Ireland Office. I shall ...

Baroness Harman | 438 c199 (Link to this contribution) Training will be part of the performance standards that the Bill will allow the Electoral Commission...

Brian Binley | 438 c199 (Link to this contribution) My concern lies with the quality of electoral registration staff. In general, the staff tended to st...

Baroness Harman | 438 c198 (Link to this contribution) I pay tribute to the Select Committee’s work under the right hon. Gentleman’s leadership. He raises ...

Lord Beith | 438 c198 (Link to this contribution) The tendency to sweep names off the register annually, which affects service voters and others, has ...

Lord Tyrie | 438 c229-30 (Link to this contribution) The Minister may have a point, judging by what happened with the unintended consequences of another ...

Chris Ruane | 438 c225 (Link to this contribution) I agree entirely with my hon. Friend. I hope that my right hon. and learned Friend will not rush he...

Kelvin Hopkins | 438 c226 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate my hon. Friend’s point that electoral registration officers should measure up and perfo...

Chris Ruane | 438 c226-7 (Link to this contribution) I shall shortly be coming to the question of student registration. Clear direction should be given ...

Lord Tyrie | 438 c227-9 (Link to this contribution) I get the impression that the Government came to power full of great ideas for reforming and improvi...

Baroness Harman | 438 c229 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman says that there are unintended consequences when the Government take action, and ...

Brian Binley | 438 c225 (Link to this contribution) : No work is being done on the competency or professionalism of registration staff. Does the hon. Ge...

Chris Ruane | 438 c225-6 (Link to this contribution) I echo those thoughts. The status of electoral registration officers should be recognised. Their pay...

Mark Tami | 438 c226 (Link to this contribution) There are contrasting approaches to registration. In north Wales, I receive one letter a year about ...

Chris Ruane | 438 c226 (Link to this contribution) I concur with my hon. Friend. The Minister referred to minimum standards. May I respectfully ask th...

Baroness Harman | 438 c230 (Link to this contribution) indicated assent.

Lord Tyrie | 438 c230 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for her nod of assent. Secondly, we need a careful examination of wha...

Hywel Williams | 438 c238-9 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for making that point, which I shall address in a moment. The allowance incl...

Roger Godsiff | 438 c236-7 (Link to this contribution) I commend that policeman. The way to resolve the problem is by not allowing campaigning within a ce...

Hywel Williams | 438 c237-8 (Link to this contribution) The Scottish National party and Plaid Cymru offer a qualified welcome to this important Bill, which ...

Roger Godsiff | 438 c234-6 (Link to this contribution) I generally welcome the Bill, but I am concerned about some provisions. I am pleased that the Govern...

Andrew Love | 438 c230-3 (Link to this contribution) Like other hon. Members, I begin by paying a warm tribute to my hon. Friend the new Member for Livin...

Peter Viggers | 438 c233-4 (Link to this contribution) May I explain the basis on which I seek to participate in this debate? The Electoral Commission was ...

David Heath | 438 c216-7 (Link to this contribution) No. I am aware that I have taken up the time of other Members who want to make speeches. Let us dea...

David Heath | 438 c217 (Link to this contribution) I give way for the very last time.

Andrew Love | 438 c215 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman spoke of the need to strike a balance, and of the significant fall in registratio...

David Heath | 438 c215 (Link to this contribution) We certainly ought to increase the overall level of registration, but I do not accept that we need p...

Chris Ruane | 438 c215 (Link to this contribution) rose—

David Heath | 438 c215 (Link to this contribution) I give way for the last time and then I must make progress.

Chris Ruane | 438 c215 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way. According to the Electoral Commission, 3.5 million to 4 m...

Mark Tami | 438 c216 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Mark Tami | 438 c225 (Link to this contribution) : Does my hon. Friend agree that it is the role of the state to get people on to the register and th...

Chris Ruane | 438 c224-5 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an excellent point, and one to which I am coming. The research undertaken by t...

Anne Begg | 438 c218-20 (Link to this contribution) I will address most of my remarks to the issue of ensuring that disabled people have full access to ...

Lord Cormack | 438 c220-2 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the hon. Member for Aberdeen, South (Miss Begg) has commanded a lot of support for he...

Oliver Heald | 438 c217 (Link to this contribution) I just want to say that we agree with the hon. Gentleman on this issue.

David Heath | 438 c217-8 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman; it is helpful if we form as broad a front as possible on it. T...

Chris Ruane | 438 c224 (Link to this contribution) I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Livingston (Mr. Devine), who achieved a good balance ...

Andrew Love | 438 c224 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that it is disappointing that the commission has not made any recommendati...

Mark Tami | 438 c222 (Link to this contribution) All hon. Members felt for the difficulties that the hon. Gentleman suffered as a result of the tragi...

Lord Cormack | 438 c222-4 (Link to this contribution) I have just made that point, and I am glad to have it endorsed. The Minister of State did not agree...

Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 438 c268 (Link to this contribution) Or, as my hon. Friend says, with the Liberal Democrats, who do not put up any opposition to the Gove...

David Heath | 438 c267 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is explaining why she is going to recommend to her colleagues that they decline to giv...

Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 438 c267 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Gentleman if he wishes to explain further.

Stephen O'Brien | 438 c268 (Link to this contribution) Or the Liberal Democrats.

Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 438 c267-8 (Link to this contribution) It is the only vehicle that we have before us now. That does not mean that it cannot be improved and...

David Heath | 438 c267 (Link to this contribution) Explain!

Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 438 c265-7 (Link to this contribution) The debate has been constructive and the Bill contains some good provisions. Nevertheless, I urge my...

David Heath | 438 c267 (Link to this contribution) No!

Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 438 c267 (Link to this contribution) I certainly will. The hon. Gentleman and the hon. Member for Southampton, Test (Dr. Whitehead) both ...

Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 438 c243-4 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that one way of finding out whether the level of registration is low is by...

Peter Robinson | 438 c243 (Link to this contribution) The rise of Democratic Unionist party was irresistible and, no matter what the voting system or the ...

Clive Betts | 438 c245-7 (Link to this contribution) In general, the Government are on the right road with this Bill, even if it has not quite got to the...

Peter Robinson | 438 c244 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a good point. Most of us recognise that, although we might like it to be differ...

Robert Smith | 438 c249 (Link to this contribution) I have never quite understood how this country, without fixed-term Parliaments, can have a period ru...

Andrew Pelling | 438 c248-9 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to speak in the debate as I am such a heavy user of electoral registration officers’ se...

Andrew Pelling | 438 c249-50 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that point, although I appreciate that the Liberal Democrats are very much in favo...

Julie Morgan | 438 c239-42 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to speak in this important debate. It i...

Kelvin Hopkins | 438 c243 (Link to this contribution) Changing the law on fraud appears to have had a political impact in Northern Ireland in that the hon...

Peter Robinson | 438 c242-3 (Link to this contribution) I suspect that we are discussing a subject about which all hon. Members believe themselves to be exp...

Sadiq Khan | 438 c258 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman talks about using Northern Ireland as an example, but is he aware that in the fir...

Mark Harper | 438 c258 (Link to this contribution) To pick up on the point with which the hon. Member for Southampton, Test (Dr. Whitehead) ended his s...

Alan Whitehead | 438 c255-8 (Link to this contribution) The Bill is good and wide ranging. I have also found out the true identity of Michael Caine, which i...

Speaker | 438 c255 (Link to this contribution) Order. We are rapidly running out of time and many Members are seeking to catch my eye. If Members c...

Baroness Keeley | 438 c260-2 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the new measures in the Bill relating to registration, and the new powers given to returni...

Mark Harper | 438 c258-60 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that the hon. Gentleman makes that point. The hon. Member for Belfast, East (Mr. Robinson)...

Lord Pickles | 438 c254-5 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that my hon. Friend would qualify in that respect. We have national insurance numbers, and...

Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 438 c254 (Link to this contribution) No.

Lord Pickles | 438 c252-4 (Link to this contribution) It is a particular pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull, North (Ms Johnson), as...

Diana Johnson | 438 c250-2 (Link to this contribution) I am very pleased to be able to speak in the debate. The Bill contains many positive measures. Its a...

Oliver Heald | 438 c209-10 (Link to this contribution) That is a serious worry. If this proposal were agreed, the BNP would probably be able to stand in ab...

David Heath | 438 c212 (Link to this contribution) May I say what a pleasure it is to follow the hon. Member for Livingston (Mr. Devine), who made a re...

David Heath | 438 c213 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman up to a point. Of course our debates on the earlier legislation high...

Oliver Heald | 438 c212 (Link to this contribution) I am not recanting for a minute. Does not the hon. Gentleman accept that we only have this poor Bill...

David Leslie Taylor | 438 c213-4 (Link to this contribution) The Government were right to try to increase turnout in the 2004 European elections by means of all-...

Lord Tyrie | 438 c215 (Link to this contribution) An alternative to the conundrum described by the hon. Gentleman would be a more restricted form of p...

David Heath | 438 c215 (Link to this contribution) That would be one solution, but I would rather find a better way of maintaining the integrity of the...

Oliver Heald | 438 c206-7 (Link to this contribution) One could make two specific points about national insurance numbers. First, a small number of people...

Oliver Heald | 438 c208 (Link to this contribution) No, I must get on.

Lembit Opik | 438 c208 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Oliver Heald | 438 c207-8 (Link to this contribution) I am a great supporter of the Youth Parliament but the polls that I have seen suggest that young peo...

Lembit Opik | 438 c207 (Link to this contribution) : The hon. Gentleman listed the groups and individuals whom he believed had the right to vote. What ...

David Leslie Taylor | 438 c208 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Oliver Heald | 438 c208-9 (Link to this contribution) Not at the moment. The pilot schemes are becoming something of an abuse. When they were originally ...

Lembit Opik | 438 c208 (Link to this contribution) Briefly?

Oliver Heald | 438 c208 (Link to this contribution) No. It was enjoyable, but enough is enough. The polling station and the traditional ballot box shou...

Philip Davies | 438 c209 (Link to this contribution) : Is my hon. Friend aware that, if that rule had been introduced before the last election, the BNP w...

Chris Ruane | 438 c204 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman tell the House about the initial drop in voter registration as a result of t...

Oliver Heald | 438 c203-4 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move,"That this House declines to give a Second Reading to the Electoral Administration Bil...

Andrew Love | 438 c205 (Link to this contribution) : Does the hon. Gentleman accept that the electoral registration officer for Northern Ireland put 70...

Oliver Heald | 438 c204-5 (Link to this contribution) The fall in the number of people registered was about 120,000. It is often claimed that that shows t...

Oliver Heald | 438 c206 (Link to this contribution) The Electoral Commission and international observers support individual voter registration. It is tr...

Alan Whitehead | 438 c206 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman aware that there are substantially more national insurance cards in circulatio...

Oliver Heald | 438 c205 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has not quite got the figures right, but I will not quibble. It is possible to i...

Peter Robinson | 438 c205 (Link to this contribution) : It is fairly well established in Northern Ireland that the initial drop in the register was a resu...

Oliver Heald | 438 c205-6 (Link to this contribution) I agree that there is more to this than a simple solution—we need a strategic approach that involves...

David Heath | 438 c206 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman knows that my colleagues and I agree with him about voter registration but not ab...

David Cairns | 438 c272 (Link to this contribution) I will not give way on this issue. [Hon. Members: ““Give way!””] I will not give way because I want ...

David Cairns | 438 c269-70 (Link to this contribution) The Bill allows for individual registration. I think that some Opposition Members are trying to have...

Oliver Heald | 438 c269 (Link to this contribution) The measure outstanding is therefore individual voter registration, which was recommended by interna...

David Cairns | 438 c270-1 (Link to this contribution) No. I have only eight minutes, whereas the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) had ...

Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 438 c270 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister give way?

David Cairns | 438 c271 (Link to this contribution) No, I am afraid I cannot. People like postal voting and there is no way in which we can return to t...

Lord Tyrie | 438 c271 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister give way?

David Cairns | 438 c268-9 (Link to this contribution) There is more to democracy than casting a vote, but there is no higher democratic duty for those of ...

David Winnick | 438 c269 (Link to this contribution) I want to make one particular point. The Opposition mentioned it, but that does not necessarily make...

David Cairns | 438 c269 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has highlighted an issue that I wanted to deal with later, but I will do so now as he...

Jim McGovern | 438 c262-5 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Livingston (Mr. Devine) on his excellent maiden speech....

Baroness Harman | 438 c194 (Link to this contribution) I had hoped that this Bill would not become a party political football. We should undertake a shared...

Gavin Strang | 438 c197 (Link to this contribution) The whole House should support the Government’s efforts to improve registration, whether for service...

Clive Betts | 438 c199 (Link to this contribution) On the important issue of data sources, I welcome what my right hon. and learned Friend says about E...

Hywel Williams | 438 c236 (Link to this contribution) We have a policeman who speaks Urdu.

David Heath | 438 c214-5 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the last contention. I welcomed a couple of suggestions made earlier by my hon. Friend ...

Lord McLoughlin | 438 c200 (Link to this contribution) The Minister talks about the choice of using postal voting, but one of the awkward aspects of the sy...

Angus Brendan MacNeil | 438 c238 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has mentioned the entitlement to the use of Welsh in Wales. I wonder whether the Mini...

Oliver Heald | 438 c217 (Link to this contribution) rose—

David Heath | 438 c215-6 (Link to this contribution) My personal opinion is that it will do neither. I do not believe—the Government seem also to take th...

Subjects

Candidates

Administration

Absent voting

Age

Conduct

Devolution

Campaigns

Fraud

Finance

Elections

ICT

Eligibility

Electoral Commission

Electoral register

European Parliament

Election observers

General elections

Local government

Pilot schemes

Northern Ireland

Prosecutions

Personation

Political parties

Proof of identity

Polling stations

Scotland

Registration

Voting behaviour

Voting methods

Wales

Returning officers

Timetables

Ballot papers

Legislation

Electoral Administration Bill 2005-06

Link

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