UK Parliament / Open data

Electoral Administration Bill

Debate on bills on Tuesday, 13 June 2006, in the House of Commons.
Electoral Administration Bill. Programme motion (No 2) on Lords amendments. Agreed to on question (formal). Consideration of Lords amendments. Lords amendments considered. Amendment 7 agreed to. Amendment 8 disagreed to on division (281 to 202). Amendments 9-15,61-75 and 1-5 agreed to. Amendment to Lords amendment 6 disagreed to on division (138 to 322) and amendment 6 agreed to. Amendments 16-60,76-132 agreed to. Committee appointed to draw up reason to be assigned to the Lords for disagreeing to their amendment 8. Reason reported and agreed to. To be communicated to the Lords.
Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
447 c659-740 
Session
2005-06
Department
Department for Constitutional Affairs
Legislative stage
Lords amendments
Procedure
Programme motions
New clauses
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
Electoral Administration Bill. Lords amendments
Thursday, 8 June 2006
Bills
House of Commons
Electoral registration. Government response to the first joint report of session 2004/05 from the Constitutional Affairs and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Select Committees (Constitutional Affairs Committee sixth report and Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Committee sixth report). (HC 243).
Thursday, 21 July 2005
Command papers
House of Commons
Electoral Commission / administration. Minutes of evidence 15 November 2005. (Bound with HC 640-i)
Tuesday, 15 November 2005
Parliamentary committees
House of Commons
Electoral Commission / administration. Minutes of evidence 2 November 2005. (Bound with HC 640-ii)
Wednesday, 2 November 2005
Parliamentary committees
House of Commons

Show all related items (6)
Party funding. Minutes of evidence 19 April 2006. (Printed in HC 163 2006-07)
Wednesday, 19 April 2006
Parliamentary committees
House of Commons
Proceeding contributions
Oliver Heald | 447 c667 (Link to this contribution) I am worried that the hon. Gentleman is letting his blind political prejudices get in the way of the...
Clive Betts | 447 c667 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman talks about campaigning to get people to register, but his political party did no...

Show all contributions (217)
Chris Ruane | 447 c666 (Link to this contribution) At present, between 4 million and 4.5 million people are not registered to vote. Last September’s re...
Oliver Heald | 447 c668 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the hon. Gentleman should work out the details of that suggestion and propose a scheme. We s...
Gordon Prentice | 447 c668 (Link to this contribution) I agree with an awful lot of that. There are dozens of MPs in the Commons who have majorities in thr...
Oliver Heald | 447 c667 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman misunderstands my point. I was not talking about political parties canvassing, al...
Gordon Prentice | 447 c667-8 (Link to this contribution) We have to think laterally. Why can we not positively reward people for going on the electoral regis...
Bob Spink | 447 c669 (Link to this contribution) I just wanted to get that point on the record.
Gordon Prentice | 447 c669 (Link to this contribution) I hear what the hon. Gentleman says. I am not an expert in these matters.
Bob Spink | 447 c668-9 (Link to this contribution) I thought that I would sit here and agree with everything that the hon. Gentleman said, but I disagr...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c662 (Link to this contribution) As I think the hon. Gentleman knows, although that is an amusing suggestion, we shall not be impleme...
Philip Davies | 447 c662 (Link to this contribution) The Minister appears complacent. Is she aware of the position in my part of the world? In Bradford, ...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c662-3 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased that the hon. Gentleman intervened. The amendments that I am asking the House to suppor...
David Leslie Taylor | 447 c663 (Link to this contribution) In the interests of absolute clarity, is the Government’s reason for resisting the Lords amendment b...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c663 (Link to this contribution) I said at the outset that, in principle, we accept individual registration; we do not have a princip...
Oliver Heald | 447 c663-4 (Link to this contribution) We in this House must do everything that we can to tackle electoral fraud. Faith in our democratic p...
Oliver Heald | 447 c664-6 (Link to this contribution) It is an expensive, time-consuming and difficult process, and that there are as many as eight petiti...
Bob Spink | 447 c664 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend mentioned that there are eight outstanding electoral petitions. Does he accept that, ...
Chris Ruane | 447 c666 (Link to this contribution) Under the current system, people do not have to give their signature. Last September’s Electoral Com...
Simon Hughes | 447 c673-4 (Link to this contribution) I am sure the numbers are significant, but by definition one does not know what they are. Of course ...
David Leslie Taylor | 447 c674 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman said that he supports the suggestion of my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle (Mr....
Simon Hughes | 447 c673 (Link to this contribution) In case that is reported in Hansard, they are not doing so—usually, they want to stay and upgrade. A...
Andrew Love | 447 c673 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman appears to be speaking against the proposition that he supports. People are requi...
Simon Hughes | 447 c673 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is quite right. Blackpool is an obvious example, as are many student towns and ci...
Chris Ruane | 447 c673 (Link to this contribution) They are trying to get away from the hon. Gentleman.
Simon Hughes | 447 c672-3 (Link to this contribution) Or they are travelling on EasyJet. They are certainly not in, even if they are not working. They may...
Gordon Marsden | 447 c673 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman could add to those under-registered groups people who live in houses of multiple ...
Chris Ruane | 447 c672 (Link to this contribution) They are working under a Labour Government.
Simon Hughes | 447 c671 (Link to this contribution) Somewhere beautiful up in north Wales, which we all know well.
Simon Hughes | 447 c671 (Link to this contribution) I am indeed, and I have been there often. I just could not remember the latest title of the hon. Gen...
Gordon Prentice | 447 c669 (Link to this contribution) I understand that. The Electoral Commission takes a view on the electoral system. As I said a few m...
Oliver Heald | 447 c669 (Link to this contribution) While the hon. Gentleman is on the subject of international observers, those from the Organisation f...
Gordon Prentice | 447 c670 (Link to this contribution) If the Electoral Commission and international observers are recommending that, and given that the Go...
Simon Hughes | 447 c670-1 (Link to this contribution) We are having an important debate that has carried on up and down the corridors of the building sinc...
Simon Hughes | 447 c672 (Link to this contribution) I do not know the quote and would want to check it, out of loyalty to my friend. If that is what he ...
Chris Ruane | 447 c671-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman mentions the local elections last month. He has an enlightened view on maximising...
Oliver Heald | 447 c735 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will forgive me if I am wrong, but all political parties target seats when they c...
Alan Whitehead | 447 c735 (Link to this contribution) The issue is not whether parties target seats—clearly, they do—but the large amounts of money that a...
Oliver Heald | 447 c735 (Link to this contribution) As ever, the right hon. Gentleman also adopts a constructive approach. I agree that we should look a...
Gavin Strang | 447 c735 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman’s approach is constructive. We all target seats, but is not the fundamental issue...
Bruce George | 447 c735-6 (Link to this contribution) The last time the House debated the Bill, I waited patiently to discuss my 20 amendments to clause 3...
David Heath | 447 c736 (Link to this contribution) I am sure the right hon. Gentleman will agree that at a time when the principle of independent parli...
Simon Hughes | 447 c738-9 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friends and I support all the amendments in group 4. I pay tribute to the right hon. Member ...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c662 (Link to this contribution) The commission supports individual voter registration. We in Government disagree with the commission...
Oliver Heald | 447 c662 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Lady leaves all the bogus entries on the register, such as Hooty McBoob, Michael Mouse a...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c660 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That this House agrees with the Lords in the said amendment.
Speaker | 447 c660 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to take Lords amendment No. 8 and the Government motion to disagree ...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c660-1 (Link to this contribution) I have placed in the Vote Office an explanatory note on these Lords amendments that, I hope, will he...
Oliver Heald | 447 c661 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Lady went to Northern Ireland and talked the matter through with its electoral registrat...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c661 (Link to this contribution) The rigorous canvassing did increase registration, which had suffered an extreme dip, but has not in...
Chris Ruane | 447 c661-2 (Link to this contribution) With regard to the Northern Ireland statistics showing that registration dipped as low as 82 per cen...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c662 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point, which he has raised with me and with other Ministers. It is...
Gordon Prentice | 447 c662 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend remind the House of the Electoral Commission’s stance on individual voter regist...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c730-1 (Link to this contribution) I can most certainly give the hon. Gentleman that solace. There will be only one polling station. A...
Oliver Heald | 447 c730 (Link to this contribution) But concern remains about people having to go to two polling stations if more than one election is t...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c730 (Link to this contribution) I can give my right hon. Friend that assurance. We are simplifying the procedure to make sure that t...
Gavin Strang | 447 c730 (Link to this contribution) On the face of it, it seems that we are simply replacing the reference to the UK statute with a refe...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c729-30 (Link to this contribution) Amendment No. 16 is a technical amendment that relates to the dividing of electoral wards in Scotlan...
Speaker | 447 c729 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss Lords amendments Nos. 17 to 46, 50 to 58, 84 to 86, 96 to...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c729 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That this House agrees with the Lords in the said amendment.
Bridget Prentice | 447 c725-6 (Link to this contribution) We have had a very good debate. I noted and understood the passion with which Members made their cas...
Keith Simpson | 447 c724-5 (Link to this contribution) I declare an interest. For many years I taught the armed forces, and I married a commanding officer,...
Julian Lewis | 447 c724 (Link to this contribution) I promised my party’s business managers that were I fortunate enough to catch your eye, Madam Deputy...
Peter Bone | 447 c734 (Link to this contribution) Am I correct in thinking that Members of Parliament do not have an automatic right to attend a local...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c733-4 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that. I am glad that we have managed to reassure him. The s...
Oliver Heald | 447 c735 (Link to this contribution) The Opposition accept the amendments in this group. Lords amendment No. 19 deals with the important ...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c734-5 (Link to this contribution) Members of Parliament do not have an automatic right to attend the count, which is why we reinstated...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c732 (Link to this contribution) I, too, am disappointed that we have not been able to find a solution in the Bill. However, there is...
David Heath | 447 c733 (Link to this contribution) May I express my gratitude to the hon. Lady for listening to the points raised? As a sometime observ...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c732-3 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes the case for action extremely well. I hope that he and other hon. Members—not j...
Alan Whitehead | 447 c731 (Link to this contribution) I understand the reasons for the withdrawal of the four-month rule, particularly because of the diff...
Lord Watson of Wyre Forest | 447 c716 (Link to this contribution) Just for clarification, is the hon. Gentleman asking us to oblige all our service personnel to vote;...
Oliver Heald | 447 c715-6 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend the Member for Chichester (Mr. Tyrie) and other Conservative Members have pressed the...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c714-5 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, on operations, and sometimes, as we know, in extremely dangerous life-threatening situations...
Oliver Heald | 447 c717 (Link to this contribution) It is certainly a way forward. I just want to ensure that the MOD has a duty placed on it to do some...
Ronnie Campbell | 447 c717 (Link to this contribution) My son is in the Royal Marines and has been for many years. He always managed to get a proxy vote an...
Oliver Heald | 447 c717 (Link to this contribution) Given that we are talking about such a crucial issue as people serving overseas being denied their d...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c714 (Link to this contribution) I could not agree more about the importance of doing everything we can to help our servicemen and wo...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 447 c714 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is extremely generous. She is making a magnificent job of a sow’s ear. Does she accept...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c714 (Link to this contribution) I will give way once more, but only because it is the hon. Gentleman.
Oliver Heald | 447 c719 (Link to this contribution) It is true that that might appear odd but, although Lords amendment No. 6 takes the matter further, ...
Simon Hughes | 447 c718-9 (Link to this contribution) Before I come on to the substantive debate about service personnel, I emphasise that we support all ...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 447 c720-1 (Link to this contribution) Few of us in the House can resist the blandishments of the Under-Secretary of State for Constitution...
Simon Hughes | 447 c719-20 (Link to this contribution) I am always willing to be tempted but I shall have to show some discipline to the troops who will em...
Lord Tyrie | 447 c722-4 (Link to this contribution) We heard the best possible justification inadvertently made by the Liberal spokesman for a scheme de...
Roger Gale | 447 c721-2 (Link to this contribution) I rise to support amendments (a) and (b) and in so doing, I seek to honour a pledge to a group of me...
Philip Davies | 447 c717 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend think it bizarre that the Government earlier rejected a sensible proposal to int...
Oliver Heald | 447 c718 (Link to this contribution) As the Under-Secretary knows, I believe that amendment No. 6 is better than nothing and I congratula...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c717-8 (Link to this contribution) I refer the hon. Gentleman to subsection (2) of amendment No. 6, which says:"““Arrangements must be ...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c712 (Link to this contribution) I do not believe that substantially more service personnel were registered under the old scheme. The...
Lord Tyrie | 447 c712 (Link to this contribution) I am amazed by the Minister’s comments. When I looked into the matter in 2004, prior to the last ele...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c713-4 (Link to this contribution) I am indeed aware of that survey. One of the reasons that it was published last week was to inform t...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c713 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I understand what the hon. Gentleman is saying. To some extent we will be able to do that, to s...
Julian Lewis | 447 c713 (Link to this contribution) The Minister has been extremely generous in giving way. I am puzzled by the fact that she does not s...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c713 (Link to this contribution) I understand what the hon. Gentleman is trying to achieve and I have some sympathy with that. I am n...
Simon Hughes | 447 c713 (Link to this contribution) It might be helpful to examine one or two specific examples, such as the Marines, who have a base in...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c712 (Link to this contribution) I want to try to reassure the hon. Gentleman, because I know how concerned he is. He has raised the ...
Simon Hughes | 447 c712-3;447 c712 (Link to this contribution) May I pursue the point made by the hon. Member for Mid-Sussex (Mr. Soames)? Will we be able to see, ...
Roger Gale | 447 c710 (Link to this contribution) Everyone in the House knows that order-making powers merely provide the power to make an order. If, ...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c710-1 (Link to this contribution) I am not happy with the level of registration among service personnel. I do not know whether the hon...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c711 (Link to this contribution) If hon. Members will allow to me complete my explanation of the amendment, they may be reassured tha...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 447 c711 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady accept that the position of a soldier or sailor at a shore base in Britain is ver...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c710 (Link to this contribution) I can assure the hon. Gentleman that we certainly are minded to lay the appropriate measure before t...
Julian Lewis | 447 c710 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister explain the objection in principle to reverting to the system that was used before...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c710 (Link to this contribution) I do not accept the premise that this is a complicated measure—it is a practical and straightforward...
Julian Lewis | 447 c710 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for her generosity in giving way. She said that the previous system did not wor...
Lord Tyrie | 447 c712 (Link to this contribution) A moment ago, the Minister said that the old system of registration was inadequate. Of course that i...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 447 c707 (Link to this contribution) Am I correct in understanding the hon. Gentleman as saying that the problem would be not the time at...
David Heath | 447 c707 (Link to this contribution) That is precisely so. We are talking about a loan made before the relevant time—the commencement of ...
Lord Tyrie | 447 c705 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman says that we need clear limits and, of course, I agree with his sentiments. Will ...
David Heath | 447 c705-7 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure that it is entirely right to say that we have not done so already. I accept that we ha...
Speaker | 447 c708 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss Lords amendments Nos. 2 to 5, Lords amendment No. 6 and a...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c708-9 (Link to this contribution) The amendments relate to the registration system. Amendments Nos. 1 to 4 relate to the co-ordinated ...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c707-8 (Link to this contribution) I echo the hon. Gentleman’s words. I, too, hope that the consensus continues. I am grateful to him f...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c708 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That this House agrees with the Lords in the said amendment.
Bridget Prentice | 447 c709-10 (Link to this contribution) Amendment No. 5 addresses my hon. Friend’s concerns. He is right that one call is often not enough. ...
Andrew Love | 447 c709 (Link to this contribution) On amendment No. 5, the experience of my electoral staff is that because of a shortage of people to ...
Oliver Heald | 447 c702 (Link to this contribution) Let me just make a bit of progress. The point that I was going to make is that, from the moment tha...
David Heath | 447 c703 (Link to this contribution) I broadly welcome the amendments in this group. I am a little disappointed that the Leader of the Ho...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 447 c703 (Link to this contribution) Transparency International has said that Parliament must be beyond reproach and be seen to be beyond...
David Heath | 447 c703-4 (Link to this contribution) I agree to an extent with the hon. Gentleman. It is still incumbent on us to break that connection. ...
David Heath | 447 c704 (Link to this contribution) There is a perfectly respectable unicameralist view; it is not one that I share, but it has its own ...
David Leslie Taylor | 447 c704 (Link to this contribution) Is it not the case that the ingenious and the unprincipled will always try to evade frameworks, even...
Andrew Love | 447 c705 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman accept that the only thing worse than having political parties that are depe...
David Heath | 447 c704-5 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman. Having been subject to some of that increased spending, pe...
David Heath | 447 c705 (Link to this contribution) I sincerely hope so, although Sir Hayden Phillips will find it enormously difficult to bring togethe...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c701-2 (Link to this contribution) I agree wholeheartedly with the hon. Gentleman that someone who donates to a political party should ...
Peter Bone | 447 c700 (Link to this contribution) Given the Minister’s earlier comments, I wanted to point out that the House should not give the impr...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c700 (Link to this contribution) If I can make a little progress, I shall deal with the question of third party loans. The other maj...
Oliver Heald | 447 c702 (Link to this contribution) As I think that the hon. Gentleman would agree, it was a different era. We all accept things now tha...
Oliver Heald | 447 c702 (Link to this contribution) Openness and transparency are important. If someone makes what amounts to a gift to a political part...
David Winnick | 447 c702 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman was in no way responsible so my question is not personal, but why was there no di...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 447 c699 (Link to this contribution) Is there anything in the amendments that would have prevented the recent scandals and the subsequent...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c698-9 (Link to this contribution) I hope that the amendments from the other place will reassure the hon. Gentleman. As far as possible...
Andrew Turner | 447 c699 (Link to this contribution) The Minister said that no one in this House recognised the loophole that existed. Does that mean tha...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c699 (Link to this contribution) As I have said, the events of a few months ago showed that we needed transparency. My hon. Friend th...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 447 c698 (Link to this contribution) My point is not about my party having representation in the House of Lords. It is about installing a...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c700 (Link to this contribution) Let me make it absolutely clear that no one who gives money to a political party is given some sort ...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c699 (Link to this contribution) As I said in my statement of 20 March—and I have said it again at least twice this evening—no one wa...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c700 (Link to this contribution) I will give way once more to the hon. Gentleman, but if he repeats the questions that he has asked a...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 447 c700 (Link to this contribution) The Minister refers to loopholes, but is not the biggest loophole of all still wide open—the one tha...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c687-8 (Link to this contribution) This has been an excellent debate, which, as expected, has reflected the strong views held on both s...
David Heath | 447 c688 (Link to this contribution) To correct the record, I made it absolutely plain that it was not remotely patronising to point out ...
Clive Betts | 447 c686-7 (Link to this contribution) The reality is, of course, that there is a legal requirement for people to register, so I am not sur...
Lord Horam | 447 c687 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Sheffield, Attercliffe (Mr. Betts) latterly proposed, perhaps not wholly serious...
Clive Betts | 447 c686 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman on that point. I am all in favour of every imaginative way possible ...
Jim Cousins | 447 c686 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend consider the situation in my constituency, where 6,000 voters in purpose-built s...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c690 (Link to this contribution) Again, the hon. Gentleman has made an important point. I hope that, in further discussions with the ...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c694 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That this House agrees with the Lords in the said amendment.
Bridget Prentice | 447 c688-9 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is, of course, entitled to his view, and I think that he is wrong. The hon. Memb...
Simon Hughes | 447 c689-90 (Link to this contribution) I realise that the Minister is approaching the end of her speech, but may I ask her to consult on an...
Andrew Turner | 447 c696 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate, as I am sure do hon. Members on both sides of the House, the efforts that have been ma...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c696 (Link to this contribution) I will come to that issue shortly. We need to address concerns about third parties—
Peter Bone | 447 c696 (Link to this contribution) Am I to understand from what the Minister has said that, if an organisation had a temporary overdraf...
Speaker | 447 c694 (Link to this contribution) With this we may discuss Lords amendments Nos. 62 to 75, 103, 110 to 122, and 126 to 129.
Bridget Prentice | 447 c694-5 (Link to this contribution) Amendments Nos. 61 to 63 were introduced following pressure from both Houses for an increase in the ...
David Winnick | 447 c695 (Link to this contribution) The position on loans was a glaring loophole for which we are all responsible, not only the Governme...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c696-7 (Link to this contribution) If a loan already exists and is ongoing, it will not have to be reported, but any loan made subseque...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 447 c697-8 (Link to this contribution) The UK link is one thing, but should not the Bill ensure that there are no links between political p...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c698 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman’s colleague, the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond), was invited to m...
Simon Hughes | 447 c680 (Link to this contribution) As somebody who represents a larger proportion of council tenants than any other Member of Parliamen...
Chris Ruane | 447 c680 (Link to this contribution) I am looking to the future. I have already mentioned one such authority—Islington, where a leading L...
Andrew Turner | 447 c680 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman’s speech has been characterised so far by assertion without evidence. Will he ide...
Chris Ruane | 447 c679-80 (Link to this contribution) I agree. Local authorities’ allocation of resources needs to be examined carefully. I tabled a parli...
Robert Syms | 447 c681-2 (Link to this contribution) We have got on to a bit of a rollercoaster with postal voting. Like many hon. Members, when I first ...
Chris Ruane | 447 c680-1 (Link to this contribution) Incentives are welcome but as well as a carrot, we need a stick to beat local authorities that refus...
Gordon Marsden | 447 c679 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend, in his description of what happens in constituencies, has brought an air of practica...
Clive Betts | 447 c683-4 (Link to this contribution) Obviously, I am not in favour of bogus people being on any register. However, I am concerned that th...
Julian Lewis | 447 c683 (Link to this contribution) Everyone agrees with the hon. Gentleman and the hon. Member for Vale of Clwyd (Chris Ruane) that the...
Clive Betts | 447 c684-6 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a valid point. Electoral registration officers should be imaginative in how the...
Chris Ruane | 447 c684 (Link to this contribution) On targeting people who are the most difficult to get to register, will my hon. Friend reflect on a ...
Simon Hughes | 447 c686 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has outlined some very good ideas, but I hope that he accepts that there are good...
Gordon Prentice | 447 c682 (Link to this contribution) I have raised this issue with Sam Younger at the Electoral Commission—some colleagues present tonigh...
David Heath | 447 c683 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman made the point that electoral registration officers need the necessary resources ...
Robert Syms | 447 c682-3 (Link to this contribution) That would be a useful way of proceeding. The suggestions in the Lords amendments on postal votes a...
Clive Betts | 447 c683 (Link to this contribution) In many senses, this amendment goes to the heart of a real dilemma. There is general agreement on bo...
Robert Syms | 447 c683 (Link to this contribution) We can all welcome that. We are making progress. There will be some votes this evening, as we do not...
Chris Ruane | 447 c677 (Link to this contribution) I fully agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Edmonton (Mr. Love) that Labour Members are as conc...
Simon Hughes | 447 c676-7 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Gentleman and all of us in urban constituencies well know, we must be realistic about wh...
Andrew Love | 447 c676 (Link to this contribution) There is as much concern about fraud among Labour Members as among any other Members, but certain ba...
Simon Hughes | 447 c676 (Link to this contribution) That is one area in which zero tolerance is appropriate. People should know that if they abuse the s...
Bob Spink | 447 c676 (Link to this contribution) The important point concerns avoiding fraud in order to maintain and rebuild public confidence in ou...
Simon Hughes | 447 c676 (Link to this contribution) There are some dangers down that road. I am always nervous about the Big Brother state collecting in...
Oliver Heald | 447 c675-6 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that in countries in which the register is more accurate such as Austr...
Simon Hughes | 447 c675 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend the Member for Somerton and Frome has watched the Bill closely from the beginning, an...
Gordon Marsden | 447 c675 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way again. Has he not exposed the problem with individual regi...
Chris Ruane | 447 c678-9;447 c678 (Link to this contribution) As I said, even without providing a signature, date of birth or national insurance number, 4.5 milli...
David Heath | 447 c678 (Link to this contribution) I will not accept that until the hon. Gentleman provides proof. Undoubtedly, people in the most depr...
David Leslie Taylor | 447 c679 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend accept that one of the core reasons for a substantial number of people not being...
Chris Ruane | 447 c678 (Link to this contribution) They are not my opinions but those of the Electoral Commission, which is put on a pedestal by the ho...
David Heath | 447 c678 (Link to this contribution) We have already established that we all want maximum registration, but I am deeply worried by what L...
Chris Ruane | 447 c678 (Link to this contribution) I refer the hon. Gentleman to the remark that I quoted earlier. When one of the leading Liberal coun...
Chris Ruane | 447 c677 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman shakes his head. It was proved in Northern Ireland that when barriers were put in...
Chris Ruane | 447 c677-8 (Link to this contribution) It is correct. Registration in Northern Ireland dipped to a percentage in the low 80s, and after a r...
Oliver Heald | 447 c677 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Gentleman knows, the Electoral Commission looked at this and found that he is completely...
Bruce George | 447 c736-8 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman who, like me, has observed elections. I have headed the short-te...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c711-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important point, but the amendments deal with the issue. For the first t...
Chris Ruane | 447 c679 (Link to this contribution) No, I would not be happy with that. I revert to my original point that any additional barrier will l...
Simon Hughes | 447 c675 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, or it would be unfair on local authorities with different needs. Areas with the more difficu...
Mark Tami | 447 c732 (Link to this contribution) We are talking about not just a few leaflets, but concerted campaigns in which, in some cases, hundr...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c739-40 (Link to this contribution) On photographs, we will consult political parties to ensure that there is support for that. I put on...
Speaker | 447 c732 (Link to this contribution) Order. I think that the hon. Gentleman’s intervention is going on for rather a long time.
Oliver Heald | 447 c717 (Link to this contribution) That is a good question. It is sad that the MOD is not prepared to do this for our servicemen. The s...
Bridget Prentice | 447 c700 (Link to this contribution) I will not give way again to the hon. Gentleman. I have made my position clear.
Bridget Prentice | 447 c695-6 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. All hon. Members need to take some responsibility for this and the right ho...
Oliver Heald | 447 c666 (Link to this contribution) I do not see why the hon. Gentleman should think that that would happen. For how many things in life...
Subjects
Disability
Disclosure of information
Armed forces
Candidates
Absent voting
Fraud
Finance
Elections
ICT
Donors
Electoral register
Election observers
National insurance
Northern Ireland
Personation
Political parties
Loans
Proof of identity
Polling stations
Registration
Voting methods
Security
Returning officers
Ballot papers
Legislation
Electoral Administration Bill 2005-06
Link
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