Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

Committee of the Whole House (HL) and Debate on bills on Wednesday, 19 January 2011, in the House of Lords.

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill. Lords committee stage (eleventh day). Clause 11 amendments debated, one amendment relating to the Isle of Wight agreed on division (196 to 122). Closure motion agreed on division (229 to 188).

Type

Parliamentary proceeding

Reference

724 c367-426, c436-526

Session

2010-12

Legislative stage

Committee stage

Procedure

Government defeats
Closure motions

Chamber / Committee

House of Lords chamber

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill. Brought from the Commons. Explanatory notes also published (HL Bill 26-EN).
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
Bills
House of Lords

Proceeding contributions

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c521 (Link to this contribution) My noble friend Lady Liddell never thought it, but some people thought she had been appointed Govern...

Lord Snape | 724 c521 (Link to this contribution) Is it not a fact that we have present in the Chamber tonight two former high commissioners to Austra...

Show all contributions (428)

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c521 (Link to this contribution) That is a wonderful note for me to finish on. I agree with my noble friend Lord Desai.

Lord Desai | 724 c521 (Link to this contribution) Let me remind my noble friend that the Labour Party should not get romantic about the Empire, of all...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c521 (Link to this contribution) I agree completely with my noble friend. He has just reminded me that not all that long ago, within ...

Lord Kennedy of Southwark | 724 c520 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to my noble friend for giving way. He has put a very interesting proposal to the ...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c521 (Link to this contribution) Thank you.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton | 724 c521 (Link to this contribution) It is pretty clear what my noble friend Lord Foulkes of Cumnock is trying to do. It is pretty far re...

Lord Rooker | 724 c522 (Link to this contribution) May I give my noble and learned friend an example from one of my former ministerial roles that comes...

Lord Falconer of Thoroton | 724 c521-2 (Link to this contribution) I say that with the greatest respect. As I understand it, Amendment 67C proposes that every constitu...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c526 (Link to this contribution) Anything else you would like to say while you are at it?

Lord O'Neill of Clackmannan | 724 c526 (Link to this contribution) That is why she is so bad tempered.

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c526 (Link to this contribution) We do welcome the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, to the House, although she is a recent arrival.

Baroness Falkner of Margravine | 724 c526 (Link to this contribution) May I suggest to the noble Lord that I have been here rather longer than him?

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c526 (Link to this contribution) It is about time and I was not going to go on any longer, but I keep getting interrupted. I have dec...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c526 (Link to this contribution) There is a very simple way that the noble Baroness could have stopped me telling these anecdotes. Sh...

Lord Taylor of Holbeach | 724 c525 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I think the noble Lord has the opportunity of moving his amendment and seeking to test the...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c525-6 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my noble friend. I call him that because I got a bit ratty with him the other day, ...

Baroness Falkner of Margravine | 724 c526 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I really wonder at this hour of the night whether the taxpayers of this country, who are p...

Lord Falconer of Thoroton | 724 c522 (Link to this contribution) My noble friend Lord Rooker gives just one example. From my experience of Jersey, Guernsey and the I...

Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton | 724 c522 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, would my noble and learned friend Lord Falconer care to ponder whether the noble Lord, Lor...

Lord Falconer of Thoroton | 724 c523 (Link to this contribution) I have not had the opportunity of discussing this matter with the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, but I im...

Lord Wallace of Saltaire | 724 c523 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, it is an interesting probing at this time of the morning. I am sure that it will come as n...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c524-5 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the noble and learned Lords, Lord Falconer of Thoroton and Lord Wallace of Tankerne...

Lord McKenzie of Luton | 724 c525 (Link to this contribution) Do my noble friend’s ambitions extend to Belize? It seems to me that he could get advice closer to h...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c525 (Link to this contribution) I shall come to that in a moment. I was sent out, not by the Secretary of State but by the then Prim...

Lord McNally | 724 c459-61 (Link to this contribution) What makes this an absolutely Alice in Wonderland debate is that, when the noble Lord, Lord Maxton, ...

Lord Maxton | 724 c459 (Link to this contribution) What my noble friend Lord Reid quite rightly said was that it was not just the complete electorate t...

Lord Falconer of Thoroton | 724 c457-8 (Link to this contribution) As far as I understand it, the noble Lord, Lord Lipsey, is taking U as the total population in Rule ...

Lord Reid of Cardowan | 724 c458 (Link to this contribution) While I am inclined to agree on the need for a definitive basis for the size of a constituency, as s...

Lord Falconer of Thoroton | 724 c457 (Link to this contribution) That may be right. What I understand the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Lipsey, to do, though he ...

Lord Mackay of Clashfern | 724 c457 (Link to this contribution) The figure is essentially a portion of the population, whereas once you get to the stage of calculat...

Lord Falconer of Thoroton | 724 c459 (Link to this contribution) You will.

Lord McNally | 724 c459 (Link to this contribution) Noble Lords on all sides of the Committee will take the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Reid, tha...

Lord Falconer of Thoroton | 724 c458-9 (Link to this contribution) I agree—not from experience but from what I have been told—that whether or not you are a registered ...

Lord Falconer of Thoroton | 724 c456-7 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, there are five amendments in this group. The noble Baroness, Lady McDonagh, has her name t...

Lord Grocott | 724 c455-6 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, my amendment is very simple. I am not quite sure why it is grouped as it is, but I have no...

Lord Mackay of Clashfern | 724 c457 (Link to this contribution) I think that I am right in saying the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Lipsey, relates to the elect...

Lord Lipsey | 724 c453 (Link to this contribution) 66ZB: Clause 11, page 9, leave out lines 25 to 27 and insert— where U is the population of the Unite...

Lord Lipsey | 724 c453 (Link to this contribution) I apologise for the vagaries of the Marshalled List, which mean that I am on my feet twice running. ...

Lord Anderson of Swansea | 724 c453-4 (Link to this contribution) Does my noble friend agree that certain constituencies have a disproportionate amount of asylum seek...

Lord Lipsey | 724 c454 (Link to this contribution) My noble friend is right. It says a lot for his assiduity, and for that of most Members of another p...

Lord Campbell-Savours | 724 c454 (Link to this contribution) Is not one of the problems with the Bill the fact that the Lewis Baston material on countries that u...

Lord Lipsey | 724 c454-5 (Link to this contribution) My noble friend makes a very shrewd point. I look forward to discussing that with officials when we ...

Viscount Ullswater | 724 c455 (Link to this contribution) I must advise your Lordships that if this amendment is agreed to, I will not be able to call Amendme...

Lord Lipsey | 724 c452-3 (Link to this contribution) I wholly agree with what the noble Lord says, and I would have drawn attention to it if I had not be...

Lord Harris of Haringey | 724 c452 (Link to this contribution) Before the noble Lord concludes and decides whether he wishes to press the amendment to a vote, perh...

Lord Lipsey | 724 c452 (Link to this contribution) I am extremely grateful to the noble Lord for that offer, which I would happily take up for my educa...

Lord Strathclyde | 724 c452 (Link to this contribution) This gives me an opportunity to read out the final couple of lines of my brief. The noble Lord, Lor...

Lord Strathclyde | 724 c451 (Link to this contribution) Let me just finish the point that I am trying to get to on the databases. I have a fascinating list:...

Lord Harris of Haringey | 724 c451-2 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the Leader of the House can enlighten me, but I had understood that the fundamental principl...

Lord Strathclyde | 724 c451 (Link to this contribution) No, the commission will be using a register of electors. It may well wish to use a database to see w...

Lord Strathclyde | 724 c451 (Link to this contribution) First of all, it will be up to them to decide what they want to use the databases for.

Lord Maxton | 724 c451 (Link to this contribution) Does that mean that the Electoral Commission can add people to the electoral register in any particu...

Lord Maxton | 724 c451 (Link to this contribution) The problem is not whether there is a database—we have had that debate—but what use will be made of ...

Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton | 724 c451 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, surely the noble Lord, Lord Tyler, will have read the report cover to cover and could enli...

Lord Tyler | 724 c451 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, can my noble friend confirm that the issue of individual registration cannot possibly make...

Lord Strathclyde | 724 c451 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I have never heard of that, but perhaps it should be a matter for the committee of my nobl...

Lord Campbell-Savours | 724 c451 (Link to this contribution) Can I make a suggestion before the noble Lord sits down? He might want to visit those jurisdictions ...

Lord Beecham | 724 c450 (Link to this contribution) Do the Government have a view on the impact of individual registration on the likely overall levels ...

Lord Strathclyde | 724 c450 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I do not see why that should be the case. It is also not straightforward to determine the...

Lord Campbell-Savours | 724 c450 (Link to this contribution) I want to pick up on something that the Minister has just said. When asked in an intervention whethe...

Lord Strathclyde | 724 c450 (Link to this contribution) That is a kind offer by the noble Lord, and I shall make sure that my officials have read the report...

Lord Strathclyde | 724 c449-50 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I assure the Committee that I have no intention of allowing the noble Lord, Lord McNally, ...

Lord Dubs | 724 c471 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I very much agree with what the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, has said...

Lord Mackay of Clashfern | 724 c471 (Link to this contribution) At present, the law states that prisoners are disqualified under an Act of Parliament and, unless an...

Lord Dubs | 724 c471-2 (Link to this contribution) I am bound to say that I am persuaded by my noble friend’s argument. The principle and the arithmeti...

Baroness Smith of Basildon | 724 c471 (Link to this contribution) I understand the point that my noble friend and the noble and learned Lord are making, but surely th...

Lord Anderson of Swansea | 724 c473 (Link to this contribution) I hope the Minister will concede that this is an important point, and perhaps he can truncate this d...

Lord Phillips of Sudbury | 724 c472-3 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I should perhaps say that I am president of the Citizenship Foundation, although I do not ...

Lord Thomas of Gresford | 724 c470 (Link to this contribution) Never mind the resources—is the noble Lord saying that he was happy that there were people in his co...

Lord Knight of Weymouth | 724 c470 (Link to this contribution) My noble friend can help me in a moment, once I have had a chance to help myself. The noble Lord, Lo...

Lord Campbell-Savours | 724 c471 (Link to this contribution) I had a fairly large prisoner mailbag. Prisoners get full service from Members of Parliament. Not on...

Lord Knight of Weymouth | 724 c471 (Link to this contribution) I would not have been happy if that situation had existed. I sought to do my duty, as I saw it, to m...

Baroness Smith of Basildon | 724 c469-70 (Link to this contribution) I listened with great interest to my noble friend’s questions on this issue. It helps to understand ...

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale | 724 c468 (Link to this contribution) I accept my noble friend’s point. Part of this touches on our earlier debates about the accuracy of ...

Baroness Smith of Basildon | 724 c468 (Link to this contribution) Before my noble friend sits down, would he answer a question for me? In looking at his calculation o...

Lord Campbell-Savours | 724 c470 (Link to this contribution) Can I help?

Lord Thomas of Gresford | 724 c470 (Link to this contribution) The noble Lord has eschewed acting on behalf of the interests of prisoners in his constituency. Who ...

Lord Knight of Weymouth | 724 c470 (Link to this contribution) My noble friend Lady Smith of Basildon asks a fine question, which I had not previously thought of. ...

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale | 724 c467-8 (Link to this contribution) My noble friend has reminded me of a point that I meant to make. At the moment there are 2,500 outst...

Lord Anderson of Swansea | 724 c467 (Link to this contribution) I yield to no one in my admiration for the right honourable Jack Straw as both a former Foreign Secr...

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale | 724 c467 (Link to this contribution) My understanding on this matter is that prisoners will be able to vote either by proxy or by post. W...

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale | 724 c466 (Link to this contribution) 66BA: Clause 11, page 9, leave out lines 25 to 27 and insert—

Lord Lipsey | 724 c465-6 (Link to this contribution) I rise, my Lords, with a deep sense of disappointment at the fact that the noble Earl, Lord Ferrers,...

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale | 724 c466-7 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, in the spirit that the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, offered the House...

Lord McNally | 724 c465 (Link to this contribution) Again, I hope that people read Hansard as I deliberately did not make that mistake but I understand ...

Earl Ferrers | 724 c465 (Link to this contribution) Does my noble friend not realise that he is now making the same mistake in referring to people who a...

Lord McNally | 724 c465 (Link to this contribution) I hear what the noble Lord says and I hear my noble and learned friend Lord Mackay behind me saying ...

Lord Browne of Ladyton | 724 c465 (Link to this contribution) If I have understood the effect of this amendment and the existing drafting of the Bill, an amended ...

Lord Bach | 724 c464 (Link to this contribution) Or, indeed, where they might come when there are 600 constituencies and theirs disappears.

Lord McNally | 724 c464 (Link to this contribution) Not exactly, because one has to realise that, as noble Lords will know, the other place has still to...

Lord Mackay of Clashfern | 724 c464 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, it is clear to me that the amendment is correct. Therefore, I hope that the Government wil...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c463-4 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, this is an important amendment and my noble friend Lord Lipsey has shown foresight in rais...

Viscount Ullswater | 724 c463 (Link to this contribution) I advise the Committee that if this amendment is agreed to, I will not be able to call Amendments 66...

Lord Lipsey | 724 c463 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I did not just propose this amendment because it allowed me to get a formula on the Order ...

Lord Lipsey | 724 c462 (Link to this contribution) 66A: Clause 11, page 9, leave out lines 25 to 27 and insert—

Lord Lipsey | 724 c462 (Link to this contribution) I apologise to the noble Earl, who has been here so much longer than I have. I shall resume my thre...

Earl Ferrers | 724 c462 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the noble Lord wishes to adopt the courtesies of the House. It is incorrect to refer ...

Lord Lipsey | 724 c461-2 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I am most grateful to the Minister for his reply. I am sure that he will want to be presen...

Lord Grocott | 724 c461 (Link to this contribution) I am baffled by the Minister’s response. He is saying that the Boundary Commission can take account ...

Lord Falconer of Thoroton | 724 c464 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay of Clashfern. My experience as a Minister was t...

Lord Grenfell | 724 c476 (Link to this contribution) I seem to remember that just before the general election, at about one in the morning, we had a very...

Lord McNally | 724 c476 (Link to this contribution) I am quite sure that we will refer back to that. Indeed, I am sure that if the noble Lord, Lord Rams...

Lord Thomas of Gresford | 724 c477 (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister agree that if the noble Lord, Lord Knight, is right, the absence of a vote is not ...

Lord McNally | 724 c477 (Link to this contribution) Each Member has to make their own decision. It is interesting, though, going back to another issue—

Lord McNally | 724 c476 (Link to this contribution) The noble Lord is right. That may already be going on. I must say that smuggling ballot papers in an...

Lord Reid of Cardowan | 724 c477 (Link to this contribution) My Lords—

Lord McNally | 724 c477 (Link to this contribution) Deferential as I am to the noble Lord, Lord Reid, I have just been asked one question and I had not ...

Lord Reid of Cardowan | 724 c477 (Link to this contribution) I was about to give the Minister the answer. He will know that prisoners can be represented by the l...

Lord McNally | 724 c477-8 (Link to this contribution) Now that the noble Earl, Lord Ferrers, is safely out of the way, I am able to say that I hope some o...

Lord Bach | 724 c474-5 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I shall be brief. I thank my noble friends for raising the issue. Of course, the noble and...

Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke | 724 c473-4 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I had not intended to speak on this amendment. I have to be absolutely honest and say that...

Lord Soley | 724 c474 (Link to this contribution) I will be even briefer than my noble friend. I agree very much with the noble and learned Lord, Lord...

Lord Tyler | 724 c473 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, from the information that the noble Lord, Lord Corbett, has given the Committee this eveni...

Lord O'Neill of Clackmannan | 724 c476 (Link to this contribution) The Minister has used the expression ““home constituency””. Could he be a little more specific about...

Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe | 724 c475 (Link to this contribution) It strikes me that it might also be useful if we could have any information that you may have on the...

Lord Bach | 724 c475 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my noble friend. He is quite right. There are a number of questions the Minister ca...

Lord Jenkin of Roding | 724 c487 (Link to this contribution) These are now the government Benches. Perhaps the noble Lord has forgotten.

Lord Myners | 724 c487-8 (Link to this contribution) I think that we regard you as at best temporary occupants of the Spiritual and Temporal Benches on t...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c486-7 (Link to this contribution) I will have to be very careful because I am not a nationalist and I do not want to do anything that ...

Lord Myners | 724 c487 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I rise to speak in support of the amendment proposed by my noble friend Lady Hayter—Amendm...

Lord Martin of Springburn | 724 c488 (Link to this contribution) I wish to speak to Amendment 81, on Argyll and Bute. I make no criticism of the other House when it ...

Lord Winston | 724 c486 (Link to this contribution) Surely this is one of the best arguments for the complete separation of Scotland and England.

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c486 (Link to this contribution) That was a very accurate, rather long and not very helpful intervention from my noble friend. I ask ...

Lord O'Neill of Clackmannan | 724 c485 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my noble friend for allowing me to intervene but he very quickly passed over this f...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c485 (Link to this contribution) With distinction, then. There are 75,787 constituents there. In Edinburgh West, which is represented...

Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville | 724 c480-1 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, with whom I have duelled on a number of occa...

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town | 724 c481-2 (Link to this contribution) The amendment in my name is, as the noble Lord, Lord Brooke, has said, slightly firmer in that it le...

Lord Winston | 724 c482 (Link to this contribution) I am finding it quite difficult to understand the noble Baroness’s argument, simply because there is...

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town | 724 c482-3 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that bit of advice, because I was finding it extremely hard to speak. Historicall...

Lord Jenkin of Roding | 724 c483-4 (Link to this contribution) After that eloquent speech, I can be extremely brief. I very much appreciate what the noble Baroness...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c484 (Link to this contribution) Amendment 80 is in this group so it would be appropriate for me to say a few words in relation to th...

Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville | 724 c478 (Link to this contribution) 66C: Clause 11, page 9, line 25, leave out ““598”” and insert ““600””

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale | 724 c478 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have taken part in this important debate. I said in moving the...

Lord Campbell-Savours | 724 c480 (Link to this contribution) Will the noble Lord give way? We are having trouble hearing him, but that might just be the audio ar...

Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville | 724 c478-80 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, in the absence of my noble friend Lord Maples, I beg to move Amendment 66C.My noble friend...

Lord Tyler | 724 c499 (Link to this contribution) The case for the City of London is not what I am referring to. I am referring to those constituencie...

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town | 724 c499 (Link to this contribution) Surely that is exactly the point about Boundary Commission hearings. You do not have to write it in ...

Lord Tyler | 724 c499 (Link to this contribution) I apologise to the noble Lord because I do not understand what he is saying. All I am saying is that...

Lord Campbell-Savours | 724 c498-9 (Link to this contribution) Does the noble Lord accept that some of us would contest the contribution of my noble friend Lord Fo...

Lord Tyler | 724 c498 (Link to this contribution) I shall make a brief contribution and acknowledge that a number of very succinct and relevant points...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c498 (Link to this contribution) We welcome all contributors to this debate. Having sat through many hours of debate, I cannot rememb...

Lord Selsdon | 724 c497 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I intervene when anybody mentions the word Islay, since my family comes from Islay. With a...

Lord Watson of Invergowrie | 724 c497-8 (Link to this contribution) I welcome those remarks, but at some future stage it might be possible to have a discussion on the i...

Lord Watson of Invergowrie | 724 c496-7 (Link to this contribution) I rise briefly to supplement the remarks of my noble friends Lord Martin and Lord Foulkes in relatio...

Lord Davies of Stamford | 724 c493-5 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I have listened to this debate with great interest. I listened with great sympathy to the ...

Lord Davies of Stamford | 724 c495-6 (Link to this contribution) I am so glad that I gave my noble friend the opportunity to make that point, a very important point ...

Lord Myners | 724 c495 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my noble friend for his correct anticipation of my point. It is disappointing that ...

Lord Browne of Ladyton | 724 c489 (Link to this contribution) As an aspirant politician in 1992, I had the temerity to take on Ray Michie. When I took over the ca...

Lord Martin of Springburn | 724 c489-90 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the noble Lord. She was a lovely lady. Of course, there is fantastic compensation in a...

Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke | 724 c490 (Link to this contribution) I support my noble friend’s case about Argyll. I have had a home in Argyll for almost 30 years. The ...

Lord Martin of Springburn | 724 c490-1 (Link to this contribution) The noble Baroness is perfectly correct. She reminds me about the single-track roads. The difficulty...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c488 (Link to this contribution) In between there is the island of Arran, which, on the basis of the arguments put forward by the nob...

Lord Martin of Springburn | 724 c488-9 (Link to this contribution) I will take the noble Lord’s word for that. If the boundary commissioner was to look only at number...

Lord Davies of Stamford | 724 c508 (Link to this contribution) My Lords—

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c507 (Link to this contribution) Then to whom can we give the credit for making these suggestions? Who originally came up with these ...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c507 (Link to this contribution) Obviously discussions took place in the preparation of this Bill. I honestly cannot think of who too...

Lord Davies of Stamford | 724 c506 (Link to this contribution) Is the Minister telling us that, in the coalition’s discussions which gave birth to this Bill, the L...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c507 (Link to this contribution) I was not in the front line, but I have no recollection of these specific seats ever being mentioned...

Lord McAvoy | 724 c507 (Link to this contribution) The Minister has forced me to break my self-denying ordinance about intervening on Ministers. Howeve...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c507-8 (Link to this contribution) I did not do a deal with anyone with regard to this. I have just paid tribute to the party opposite ...

Lord Rennard | 724 c507 (Link to this contribution) Would my noble friend agree that whoever devised the 1986 legislation devised the exception for Orkn...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c507 (Link to this contribution) It was not the 1986 legislation. Let me put it on the record that Orkney and Shetland is under prese...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c506 (Link to this contribution) I rather suspect that the noble Lord was not listening as attentively as he would normally do, becau...

Lord Reid of Cardowan | 724 c506 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is giving us not a principle but a geographical description, and saying that those plac...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c505-6 (Link to this contribution) I have no reason to doubt that. These are examples of island communities which are linked to and can...

Lord Kinnock | 724 c499-500 (Link to this contribution) First, I endorse the first of the arguments the noble Lord has made so eruditely and accept it as a ...

Lord Tyler | 724 c500 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure whether that was an intervention or an extension into a new speech. The noble Lord, Lo...

Lord Grocott | 724 c500-1 (Link to this contribution) I am not intervening on the noble Lord and I do not expect him to respond, but we are in the Committ...

Lord Falconer of Thoroton | 724 c501-4 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, that exchange at the end goes to the heart of the issue in relation to these amendments. I...

Lord Falconer of Thoroton | 724 c504 (Link to this contribution) I agree with every word of that. The detailed point is that, if you were minded to have exceptions, ...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c504-5 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I come now to address the series of amendments that have been spoken to or moved. I agree ...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c505 (Link to this contribution) It is represented by Miss Katy Clark.

Lord Soley | 724 c512-3 (Link to this contribution) I ask Members to think about this. They know, I know and everyone in this House knows that this is a...

Lord Soley | 724 c513 (Link to this contribution) I thank the noble Lord for his intervention. I am quite happy to accept what he is advising me to do...

Lord Teverson | 724 c513 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I have found that the last few amendments that we have discussed in this House have been d...

Lord Dubs | 724 c517 (Link to this contribution) I have been trying to follow my noble friend’s argument and I think that I understand what he is say...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c515-7 (Link to this contribution) It is a great privilege to speak to such a full House at such a time and to move this amendment—whic...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c517 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that the question arises. I am not suggesting that a constituency in Northern Ireland...

Lord Rooker | 724 c513 (Link to this contribution) It seems, on the basis of the intervention of the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, that the style of what ...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c515 (Link to this contribution) 67C: Clause 11, page 9, leave out lines 29 and 30 and insert— ““( ) Each constituency shall be wholl...

Lord Grocott | 724 c510 (Link to this contribution) The Labour island.

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c508-10 (Link to this contribution) No, I think that we have heard quite a bit on this matter. I turn now to the other capital city, Edi...

Lord Soley | 724 c512 (Link to this contribution) I support that strongly. I have watched with growing concern the way in which this has been handled ...

Lord Falconer of Thoroton | 724 c511-2 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I beg to move that the House do now resume. We had, as everyone in the Chamber knows, 21 h...

Lord Falconer of Thoroton | 724 c511 (Link to this contribution) Moved by That the House do now resume.

Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville | 724 c511 (Link to this contribution) In response to the generosity of my noble and learned friend in standing up to agree to a meeting, I...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c511 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I should put this beyond peradventure in case the Hansard writer does not see my head. I am ...

Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville | 724 c510-1 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords and Baronesses who have spoken in this vigorous debate, e...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c510 (Link to this contribution) As the noble Lord, Lord Grocott, says, the Labour island. He referred to this because it gave him an...

Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke | 724 c519 (Link to this contribution) I do not often disagree with my noble friend, but I am always sceptical when he advises me about foo...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c519 (Link to this contribution) That is a very interesting argument. Of course, in the European Union it is perfectly open for us to...

Lord McKenzie of Luton | 724 c519-20 (Link to this contribution) I am not quite sure that I fully understand the proposition. Should representatives from the Channel...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c519 (Link to this contribution) Well, I have parlayed with him about it. I wanted to raise this matter, but it has taken a lot long...

Lord Knight of Weymouth | 724 c520 (Link to this contribution) No representation without taxation.

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c520 (Link to this contribution) My noble friend is absolutely right. There would be reciprocity. They would come under part of our t...

Lord Howarth of Newport | 724 c520 (Link to this contribution) My noble friend has shown generous sensitivity to the concerns of the residents of those islands and...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c520 (Link to this contribution) Yes, as my noble friend Lord Knight says, no representation without taxation—to turn something on it...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c520 (Link to this contribution) They would certainly do it more effectively. However, that situation exists at the moment. The SNP, ...

Lord Dubs | 724 c518 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to both my noble friends. I think that I understand it now. I am sorry that I did not ...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c518 (Link to this contribution) I think that my noble friend is missing out on the commas. Each constituency has to be in Scotland w...

Lord Dubs | 724 c517 (Link to this contribution) I understand what my noble friend is saying but I am reading his amendment and trying to understand ...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c518-9 (Link to this contribution) I have spoken extensively with people from the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and most of the depe...

Lord Knight of Weymouth | 724 c518 (Link to this contribution) The noble Lord will be aware that, within the European constituencies, Gibraltar is within the south...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c518 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my noble friend. I know a lot about the Ballycastle to Campbeltown ferry, which my ...

Lord O'Neill of Clackmannan | 724 c518 (Link to this contribution) Before my noble friend leaves this point, is it not the case that it would not be impossible—unless ...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c519 (Link to this contribution) Anything that causes problems for the IPSA seems like a good idea to me; my former honourable and ri...

Lord Howarth of Newport | 724 c519 (Link to this contribution) I know that my noble friend always takes a very responsible view of the implications of any legislat...

Lord Campbell-Savours | 724 c388 (Link to this contribution) It has never come out publicly before, but my noble friend was blocked. I knew that, and I knew the ...

Lord Thomas of Gresford | 724 c388 (Link to this contribution) Before the noble Lord answers—

Lord Wills | 724 c388 (Link to this contribution) Let me respond to one intervention, and then I assure the noble Lord I will happily give way to him....

Lord Thomas of Gresford | 724 c388-9 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, we are terribly interested in the noble Lord’s ministerial career in the House of Commons,...

Lord Wills | 724 c389 (Link to this contribution) I am very sorry that the noble Lord should make such a personal and slightly vindictive comment. I a...

Lord Howarth of Newport | 724 c389 (Link to this contribution) It would be helpful and interesting for the House if my noble friend could make a few remarks about ...

Lord Wills | 724 c389 (Link to this contribution) That is how I was going to come to the conclusion of my remarks. I was responding to an intervention...

Lord Kilclooney | 724 c389-90 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, as one-time Minister responsible for electoral registration in Northern Ireland, I have be...

Lord Soley | 724 c390-1 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I had not intended to speak on this matter. I shall be brief, subject to interventions, wh...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c391-2 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, the Minister’s early intervention was very helpful because a lot of the things that he sai...

Viscount Eccles | 724 c385 (Link to this contribution) Why does the noble Lord use the word, ““excluded””?

Lord Sewel | 724 c385 (Link to this contribution) Building upon what my noble friend has been saying, does he accept that as a measure of those entitl...

Lord Wills | 724 c385 (Link to this contribution) Quite simply because they are not on the register. There is a lot of suspicion that some local autho...

Lord Campbell-Savours | 724 c385 (Link to this contribution) My noble friend refers to the 3.5 million who are excluded. It is not that they will not be allowed ...

Lord Wills | 724 c386-7 (Link to this contribution) I will come to the doubts that people had, and those of my colleagues who are shaking their heads ma...

Lord Campbell-Savours | 724 c387 (Link to this contribution) The objective was laudable and it was supported by many Members. However, when discussions about res...

Lord Campbell-Savours | 724 c386 (Link to this contribution) Not all of us.

Lord Wills | 724 c387-8 (Link to this contribution) My noble friend is completely right: I was full of reservations and trepidation about the future. On...

Lord Elton | 724 c382 (Link to this contribution) With respect, the previous Government had all-night sittings as well and we did not change the rules...

Lord Howarth of Newport | 724 c382 (Link to this contribution) I do not know whether I may be permitted to resume these brief remarks that I want to offer to the C...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c382 (Link to this contribution) I wonder if my—

Lord Howarth of Newport | 724 c382 (Link to this contribution) I deprecate another intervention, but as my noble friend always has something worth while to say—

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c384 (Link to this contribution) I think that it was a little more complex than that. It was the fact that the population estimates—i...

Lord Wills | 724 c384-5 (Link to this contribution) I am extremely grateful to the Minister for that elucidation, but will he consider this: is not an e...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c382 (Link to this contribution) I wanted to say how much I am enjoying my noble friend’s speech and I ask him to ignore the loutish ...

Lord Howarth of Newport | 724 c382-3 (Link to this contribution) My noble friend is possibly entitled to enjoy my speech rather more than to enjoy a photograph of me...

Baroness Mallalieu | 724 c383-4 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I wonder if I might contribute briefly to this debate. I add that I am not on any roster o...

Lord Howarth of Newport | 724 c381 (Link to this contribution) The noble Lord himself is occasionally capable of quite soporific oratory. If I had fewer interventi...

Lord Tyler | 724 c381 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I can help the noble Lord in that respect. Some of us have seen a fascinating grid, the Oppo...

Lord Thomas of Gresford | 724 c381 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, we all enjoyed the picture of the noble Lord fast asleep in the Chamber that appeared in t...

Lord Bach | 724 c382 (Link to this contribution) I want to address the point that the noble Lord felt obliged to make. The rules of the game changed ...

Lord Bach | 724 c382 (Link to this contribution) My Lords—

Lord Elton | 724 c382 (Link to this contribution) May I just finish? I am happy to give way when I have finished. I confess that I am myself departing...

Lord Howarth of Newport | 724 c381 (Link to this contribution) My noble friend has a knowledge of the dark arts that I could never match, nor would I wish to match...

Lord Elton | 724 c382 (Link to this contribution) There is a great difference between the traditional arrangements of the Chief Whips of both parties ...

Lord Howarth of Newport | 724 c381 (Link to this contribution) I would personally be terribly disappointed if the noble Lord, Lord Tyler, were to take advantage of...

Lord McAvoy | 724 c381 (Link to this contribution) In relation to the contribution of the noble Lord, Lord Tyler, does he know that just before we adjo...

Lord Bach | 724 c379 (Link to this contribution) I continue on from what my noble friend asked. As I understand it, in the past Boundary Commissions ...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c379 (Link to this contribution) If I have got it wrong I shall say so, but it was not speculative, which is what the Boundary Commis...

Lord Howarth of Newport | 724 c379-80 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, the noble and learned Lord spoke of his desire to achieve fairness and equality between el...

Lord Howarth of Newport | 724 c381 (Link to this contribution) But the amendment carries important implications about registration. I suggest that we need to conti...

Lord Elton | 724 c380 (Link to this contribution) We are addressing a particular amendment and the noble Lord is asking the Committee to talk about th...

Lord Howarth of Newport | 724 c381 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the noble Lord in a second. I am just replying to the previous intervention. We s...

Lord Thomas of Gresford | 724 c381 (Link to this contribution) My Lords—

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c378-9 (Link to this contribution) There are two points here. First, it has been recognised in earlier debates that this Boundary Commi...

Lord Desai | 724 c378 (Link to this contribution) For the first time I am beginning to understand why things are as complicated as they are. If I unde...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c377 (Link to this contribution) From memory—and if I get this wrong, I am sure that I will be corrected—1 December is the date on wh...

Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke | 724 c376-7 (Link to this contribution) I might be being dense about this, but there does seem to be a degree of logic in the position of bo...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c376 (Link to this contribution) You have to have a fixed date in order to be able to produce the draft recommended constituency boun...

Lord Howarth of Newport | 724 c376 (Link to this contribution) Why should not the Boundary Commissions, as they work towards a review to be completed by 1 October ...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c378 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, in the question that the noble Lord asked he gave the answer as to why it is not possible....

Lord Sewel | 724 c377-8 (Link to this contribution) I am a late contributor to the debate. Several years or decades ago, I tried to earn an honest penny...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c377 (Link to this contribution) That is a very good point, and one that I certainly remember being made—and making—some days ago. Th...

Lord Tyler | 724 c377 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my noble and learned friend, who is giving a painstaking analysis. There is an addi...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c376 (Link to this contribution) I am certain that I have already given that explanation, but I am more than happy to repeat it. The ...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c375-6 (Link to this contribution) In terms of this Bill and the four Boundary Commissions’ reports, which are required by October 2013...

Lord Campbell-Savours | 724 c376 (Link to this contribution) I am not delaying the debate, but there will be people in the Chamber who have not been here during ...

Lord Wills | 724 c374 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to the noble and learned Lord. I hope to be able to make a contribution to this d...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c374 (Link to this contribution) I did not say that it was the 2000 census; I said it was the 2000 electoral register. The 2000 elect...

Lord Maxton | 724 c375 (Link to this contribution) The Minister and I have had a dialogue about the use of data from various sources in drawing up the ...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c374-5 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the opportunity to explain. I was surprised that when the noble Lord, Lord Bach, s...

Lord Rooker | 724 c373 (Link to this contribution) The Office of Population Censuses and Surveys used to do the same job and was the guardian of data o...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c373 (Link to this contribution) I cannot give a technical answer, but I can say that they are produced by the Office for National St...

Lord Campbell-Savours | 724 c374 (Link to this contribution) If that is the case and an annual uprating is being made along the lines set out by the noble and le...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c374 (Link to this contribution) Just by saying that, the noble Lord will see that data on births, marriages and deaths give you only...

Lord Campbell-Savours | 724 c373 (Link to this contribution) The noble and learned Lord in reading his brief referred to what I think he said were annual recalcu...

Lord Bach | 724 c371-2 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, illustrating the point that I was seeking to make before I was interrupted, perhaps I may ...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c372-3 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, the noble Lord has explained the basis of his amendment. It sets out the requirement that ...

Lord Wills | 724 c371 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to keep interrupting my noble friend, but having spent years on this issue, until my brai...

Lord Bach | 724 c371 (Link to this contribution) Indeed; and undoubtedly the electorate in Northern Ireland decreased appreciably when individual reg...

Lord Campbell-Savours | 724 c371 (Link to this contribution) Does my noble friend accept that one of the reasons why there was a delay—in the case of some of us,...

Lord Tyler | 724 c370 (Link to this contribution) Eventually.

Lord Bach | 724 c370 (Link to this contribution) If the noble Lord has kept to the rule that you should know the answer to a question before asking i...

Lord Tyler | 724 c370 (Link to this contribution) I wonder if the noble Lord can confirm to your Lordships’ House that the Electoral Commission recomm...

Lord Bach | 724 c399 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I make this application more in sorrow than in anger, but actually in both. The reason tha...

Baroness Scotland of Asthal | 724 c399 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, as your Lordships will know, I have not spoken so far in this debate so I rise now with a ...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c392 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, the secretaries of the Boundary Commission were asked about this by the Political and Cons...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c392 (Link to this contribution) I accept that they were asked the question. But what is the purpose of having debates like this in t...

Lord Thomas of Gresford | 724 c392 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, referred to the winding-up speech of the Minister which took...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c392 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful. What is the purpose of hearing from people who have genuinely been involved in electi...

Lord Thomas of Gresford | 724 c393 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I wish to persist in my Motion. Division on Motion that the Question be now put. Content...

Lord Geddes | 724 c392 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I am instructed by order of the House to say that the Motion that the Question be now put ...

Baroness Hollis of Heigham | 724 c402-3 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I have not taken part in the Bill, but I have been in the House for some 20 years. I was a...

Lord Addington | 724 c402 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I have been in this House for well over 20 years and have seen many long debates. I have n...

Baroness Hollis of Heigham | 724 c400 (Link to this contribution) Nonsense—withdraw.

Lord Thomas of Gresford | 724 c400 (Link to this contribution) Of course it was deserved, because the proceedings on Monday and into Tuesday morning were an organi...

Baroness Scotland of Asthal | 724 c399-400 (Link to this contribution) As such, it is incumbent on all of us to make sure that we conduct ourselves with propriety. There w...

Lord Anderson of Swansea | 724 c401-2 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, at the time of a clash and a rather sour atmosphere at some stage on Tuesday morning, a st...

Lord Low of Dalston | 724 c401 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I did not vote for the closure Motion because I felt that it was wrong to vote for what wa...

Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve | 724 c400 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, we must do some simple and clear talking among ourselves. The situation that we have arriv...

Baroness Scotland of Asthal | 724 c400 (Link to this contribution) I was not talking about whatever happened on Monday night. Then, the noble Lord, Lord Trefgarne, rai...

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay | 724 c409-10 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I am proud to put my name to this amendment, which has been moved by my noble friend and n...

Lord Judd | 724 c410-1 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I have the honour to have been granted the freedom of the city of Portsmouth. In my years ...

Bishop of Wakefield | 724 c409 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I support the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Fowler. Having worked in the diocese of Po...

Lord Forsyth of Drumlean | 724 c412-3 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, it is a pleasure to support my noble friend Lord Fowler in his amendment, and to support M...

Viscount Astor | 724 c411 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I should like to support my noble friend Lord Fowler. Anyone who is even an occasional vis...

Lord Dubs | 724 c411-2 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I also congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Fowler, on having put the argument so clearly. I ...

Lord Desai | 724 c414 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, just before the closure we were talking statistics, and I make a small statistical point. ...

Lord Pannick | 724 c414 (Link to this contribution) The strength of the case for this amendment confirms the mischief in this part of the Bill which we ...

Lord Forsyth of Drumlean | 724 c413-4 (Link to this contribution) I bow to the noble Lord’s very great experience, not just as a former Speaker but as a parliamentari...

Lord Mackay of Clashfern | 724 c403-4 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, it is with considerable difficulty that I find myself addressing this position which, as f...

Lord Clinton-Davis | 724 c404 (Link to this contribution) I have a tremendous regard for the noble and learned Lord and the advice that he proffers, but is it...

Lord Mackay of Clashfern | 724 c404-5 (Link to this contribution) I am not a member of the usual channels and I never have been, unlike my good friend the noble Lord,...

Lord Bach | 724 c405 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I am most grateful to all noble Lords who have spoken in this important debate, not least ...

Lord Mackay of Clashfern | 724 c406 (Link to this contribution) I associate myself with that last hope. Motion withdrawn. Amendment 66 Moved by

Lord Fowler | 724 c406 (Link to this contribution) 66: Clause 11, page 9, line 23, after ““6(2)”” insert ““, 6A(2)””

Lord Anderson of Swansea | 724 c406 (Link to this contribution) I wholly accept that the Isle of Wight deserves to be treated in the way in which the noble Lord wan...

Lord Fowler | 724 c406 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I shall also speak to Amendment 89, which deals specifically with the Isle of Wight. I am ...

Lord West of Spithead | 724 c409 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I declare an interest in that I have holidayed on the Isle of Wight for some 40 years in a...

Lord Fowler | 724 c406-8 (Link to this contribution) Having started and tried to get consensus, I shall not continue to debate with the noble Lord, becau...

Lord Maxton | 724 c442-3 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I hope to be brief and hope that the cameramen from the Independent are taking photographs...

Lord Lipsey | 724 c439 (Link to this contribution) Will the noble Lord, Lord McAvoy, please be very kind and allow me to finish my answer to the noble ...

Lord McAvoy | 724 c439 (Link to this contribution) I urge my noble friend not to give too much—if any—credence to anything the noble Lord, Lord Rennard...

Lord Lipsey | 724 c440 (Link to this contribution) I have been paying great attention to the noble Lord, Lord Rennard, for many years and I have learnt...

Lord Campbell-Savours | 724 c440-2 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Rennard, is splitting hairs. There is a principle behind the amendmen...

Lord Lipsey | 724 c439 (Link to this contribution) The noble Lord sustains the point I am making. This is not a completely impossible exercise and othe...

Lord Rennard | 724 c439 (Link to this contribution) The noble Lord, Lord Lipsey, said that I was suggesting that every organisation had to be consulted ...

Lord Lipsey | 724 c439 (Link to this contribution) The noble Lord might be right. I did not say that this particular proposal should go to everyone for...

Lord McAvoy | 724 c439 (Link to this contribution) My Lords—

Lord Maxton | 724 c438-9 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, the noble Lord opposite referred to ““crude estimates”” landing in the political arena. Th...

Lord Maxton | 724 c438 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry.

Lord Lipsey | 724 c438 (Link to this contribution) The commissions already deal with matters of extraordinary complexity and political controversy. On ...

Lord Maxton | 724 c438 (Link to this contribution) Does the noble Lord—

Lord Lipsey | 724 c438 (Link to this contribution) Please may I finish answering one question before I address another?

Lord Lipsey | 724 c438 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to: I have not. I was going to suggest that the Government should now embark on such cons...

Lord McAvoy | 724 c437 (Link to this contribution) The noble Lord’s amendments are always very clever—first class; a lot of work goes into them. Who wo...

Lord Lipsey | 724 c437-8 (Link to this contribution) The Electoral Commission would be the obvious body to do this work, because it has done the original...

Lord Lipsey | 724 c436 (Link to this contribution) 66ZA: Clause 11, page 9, line 23, at end insert— ““( ) For the purposes of rule 2(1) the electorate ...

Lord Lipsey | 724 c436-7 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, the Bill provides for an equalisation in constituencies so that their electorates have to ...

Lord Falconer of Thoroton | 724 c447-9 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, one of the consequences of this Bill is that it forces the Boundary Commission to construc...

Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton | 724 c449 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I am delighted that the noble Lord, Lord McNally, is now in his place as, in answer to a q...

Lord Falconer of Thoroton | 724 c449 (Link to this contribution) I join the noble Baroness, Lady Farrington, in expressing pleasure at the arrival of the noble Lord,...

Lord Harris of Haringey | 724 c446 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I do not disagree with anything that the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, has said. He is right—it...

Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton | 724 c446 (Link to this contribution) I would like to correct any misunderstanding I created. I was referring to government allocation of ...

Lord Harris of Haringey | 724 c446 (Link to this contribution) That is certainly the case in one or two parts of London, though, as a general principle, London sub...

Lord Harris of Haringey | 724 c446 (Link to this contribution) Well, you did draw me on to it. When you bear in mind that the population of London is the same as t...

Lord Harris of Haringey | 724 c446-7 (Link to this contribution) The point I am trying to make, which is very important, is that there is a variation in the registra...

Lord Harris of Haringey | 724 c445 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, that is the case. The interesting issue about that, since we were talking earlier today abou...

Lord Rooker | 724 c445-6 (Link to this contribution) My noble friend makes an interesting point and I am not gainsaying anything that he has said, but th...

Lord Harris of Haringey | 724 c444-5 (Link to this contribution) It is not only a question of the zeal, but of the budgets that they are allocated and the way in whi...

Lord Anderson of Swansea | 724 c445 (Link to this contribution) My credentials are that I was an elected councillor for the ward of Golborne in north Kensington. My...

Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton | 724 c443 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, would my noble friend agree with me? My title is Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton. A very ...

Lord Maxton | 724 c443 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree with my noble friend. In a previous existence, I was the Scottish Office spokesman ...

Lord Anderson of Swansea | 724 c444 (Link to this contribution) Does my noble friend agree that one of the variables is the zeal of the local authority officers res...

Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton | 724 c443 (Link to this contribution) Does my noble friend agree that were all these people to be registered, support for local authoritie...

Lord Maxton | 724 c443 (Link to this contribution) I cannot disagree with my noble friend. I think I have made my point.

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c420 (Link to this contribution) When I get that information, I will certainly impart it.

Lord Selsdon | 724 c418 (Link to this contribution) I speak as treasurer and secretary of the House of Lords Yacht Club and I am an islander. Historical...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c419-20 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, by my calculation this has been a debate in which 18 noble Lords have taken part and have ...

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay | 724 c420 (Link to this contribution) Will the noble and learned Lord kindly let us know how many letters he has had, when he gets the cha...

Lord Selsdon | 724 c418 (Link to this contribution) I was not suggesting anything about other islands. This debate is about the Isle of Wight. The thin...

Baroness McDonagh | 724 c418 (Link to this contribution) I have some sympathy with the noble Lord’s arguments, but would he address the issue of why this isl...

Lord Bach | 724 c419 (Link to this contribution) I say from the Front Bench that my party's view is clear that the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord ...

Lord Touhig | 724 c418-9 (Link to this contribution) If the Government concede on this amendment, of course it could be said that they are setting a prec...

Lord Hamilton of Epsom | 724 c417 (Link to this contribution) That is absolutely true. That is why I hope that the Government do not give way on this issue. That ...

Baroness Nye | 724 c417 (Link to this contribution) I support the noble Lord’s amendment. I told him that I would do so and I had not intended to speak ...

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock | 724 c417 (Link to this contribution) Let me reinforce the noble Lord's argument. If we have a debate like this for 45 minutes on each of ...

Lord Hamilton of Epsom | 724 c417 (Link to this contribution) No, I am not in favour of them either. I agree that they have breached the principle, but I suppose ...

Lord Davies of Stamford | 724 c417 (Link to this contribution) Is the noble Lord in favour of the two exceptions that the Government have already made?

Lord Hamilton of Epsom | 724 c416-7 (Link to this contribution) As everybody will know, I have spoken in the debate on the first half of this Bill only against the ...

Lord Eden of Winton | 724 c416 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, having sat silently through the long night watches, I am grateful that by accident this im...

Lord Mackay of Clashfern | 724 c416 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I have to make a correction. I referred to the late Lord Mottistone. I should not have sai...

Lord McAvoy | 724 c414-6 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, without injecting too much of a sour note, I would like to follow up some of the points ma...

Lord Mackay of Clashfern | 724 c414 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, my connection with the Isle of Wight is that when I was Lord Chancellor I was invited to o...

Lord Fowler | 724 c422 (Link to this contribution) On the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Crickhowell, in the debate that ended yesterday, the Minis...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c423 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. I said that because I know for a fact that he does read these debates. I will certainly ensu...

Lord Elton | 724 c423 (Link to this contribution) Before the Minister replies, he said only that his honourable friend would read this debate. Will he...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c423 (Link to this contribution) In response to my noble friend, this is a Committee stage, there will be a Report stage and there wi...

Lord Forsyth of Drumlean | 724 c423 (Link to this contribution) I will put this very gently. What are we doing here? This is a Chamber of Parliament. We are debatin...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c423 (Link to this contribution) I will undoubtedly express to my honourable friend the strength of feeling and the argument that has...

Lord Mawhinney | 724 c423 (Link to this contribution) For the first time since the Bill started, my noble friend has me confused. Until now I have been gi...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c424 (Link to this contribution) I hear that point. I have heard more compelling, stronger arguments than that, but it is a point of ...

Lord Davies of Stamford | 724 c424 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister consider, as part of the further consideration and in the course of discussions wi...

Lord Fowler | 724 c424 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I confess that I am disappointed by the noble and learned Lord’s response. I do not think ...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c421 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the Royal Mail might find that useful for their coffers, but I am not sure whether that is g...

Lord Hamilton of Epsom | 724 c421 (Link to this contribution) Is my noble and learned friend intending that there should be a letter-writing campaign for every co...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c422 (Link to this contribution) I apologise very much if I have confused the noble Lord, because my point was that I have not actual...

Lord Winston | 724 c421 (Link to this contribution) Forgive me, for I am not a politician, but I find myself really quite confused. I promise the Minist...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c421 (Link to this contribution) I was acutely aware of that. I was just indicating that there were links. I was almost immediately g...

Lord Forsyth of Drumlean | 724 c421 (Link to this contribution) I find the point that my noble and learned friend has made about the police force curious. Orkney an...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c422 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I do not wish to suggest that by doing so the Government are about to change their mind. E...

Lord Crickhowell | 724 c422 (Link to this contribution) Last night, I supported an amendment on the 10 per cent question that was moved from the Opposition ...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c422 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I have made it very clear what the Government’s position is. Obviously, I would not ask my...

Lord Fowler | 724 c422 (Link to this contribution) Is the Minister seriously saying that all he is prepared to give is to meet me and that he is not pr...

Lord Bach | 724 c370 (Link to this contribution) If the noble Lord is gently trying to say that this is not a problem that has just arisen and that j...

Lord Wills | 724 c370 (Link to this contribution) I am just wondering if my noble friend is as surprised as I am that the noble Lord who previously in...

Lord Bach | 724 c369 (Link to this contribution) We believe that it certainly does have implications for that, and I have already mentioned individua...

Lord Mawhinney | 724 c369 (Link to this contribution) I am extremely grateful to the noble Lord. He was talking about mitigating the effects of underrepre...

Lord Bach | 724 c367-9 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, Part 2 of the Bill is aimed, on the one hand, at reducing the size of the House of Commons...

Lord Campbell-Savours | 724 c369 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to take my noble friend back to the debates that we had some time ago, and I am not sure ...

Lord McNally | 724 c367 (Link to this contribution) It is a kindly thought, but I beg to move that the House do now again resolve itself into a Committe...

Lord Bach | 724 c367 (Link to this contribution) 65B: Clause 11, page 9, line 23, after ““rules”” insert ““2A,””

Lord Bach | 724 c370 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my noble friend. If I were to outline them all, my speech in moving this amendment ...

Lord Pearson of Rannoch | 724 c367 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I understand that this may be an appropriate time to ask a question, in less than two minu...

Lord McNally | 724 c459 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, when I saw Amendment 66ZB on the Marshalled List, with its strange fraction of U over 598,...

Lord Harris of Haringey | 724 c451 (Link to this contribution) My Lords—

Lord Maxton | 724 c476 (Link to this contribution) Could I raise almost the opposite point of view? Many people who are in prison are already registere...

Lord Campbell-Savours | 724 c474 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I have one question for the noble Lord, Lord McNally. Would it be possible through seconda...

Lord McNally | 724 c476 (Link to this contribution) I am trying to make an intelligent response. The noble Lord talks about glib responses. Would he lik...

Lord McNally | 724 c475-6 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, this has been an extremely interesting debate. Whether it is within the scope of the Bill ...

Lord Tyler | 724 c498 (Link to this contribution) I do not deny that for a moment. I think the noble Lord has been so busy making speeches that he has...

Lord Grocott | 724 c491-2 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I speak to Amendment 85A in my name, which adds to the list of preserved constituencies th...

Lord Judd | 724 c504 (Link to this contribution) Does my noble friend agree that once again, as we consider these amendments, we see that the Bill is...

Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale | 724 c518 (Link to this contribution) It is very clear what the amendment is trying to do. It is trying to incorporate the idea, which the...

Lord Wills | 724 c385 (Link to this contribution) My noble friend is absolutely right: this is precisely the point I made on Second Reading. This is t...

Lord Wills | 724 c385-6 (Link to this contribution) Of course, I agree with my noble friend—he is absolutely right. This goes to the point about the fol...

Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke | 724 c380 (Link to this contribution) My noble friend makes an important point. These are extremely technical parts of the Bill and they a...

Lord Browne of Ladyton | 724 c379 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to the Minister for giving way. He has been extremely indulgent of these interven...

Lord Bach | 724 c398-9 (Link to this contribution) That the House do now resume. That the House do now resume.

Lord Knight of Weymouth | 724 c468-9 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I have added my name to my noble friend Lord Corbett’s amendment, even though in many ways...

Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke | 724 c467 (Link to this contribution) I have not followed the issue of prisoner voting very closely, so I would be grateful if my noble fr...

Lord Rooker | 724 c513-4 (Link to this contribution) Noble Lords can deny it all they like. I am just giving my view. I am entitled to my view. I am just...

Lord Wills | 724 c384 (Link to this contribution) My Lords, I start by associating myself with the comments made by my noble friend Lord Browne about ...

Lord Bach | 724 c370 (Link to this contribution) Yes, eventually. I am afraid that it may be a lesson that the current Government will also learn—tha...

Lord Martin of Springburn | 724 c413 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to disturb the noble Lord’s thought, but I would also like to say that I have a very high...

Lord Rennard | 724 c438 (Link to this contribution) Before the noble Lord develops his argument much further, perhaps he could tell us what consultation...

Lord Harris of Haringey | 724 c443-4 (Link to this contribution) I originally planned to make a very straightforward speech in support of the amendment of my noble f...

Lord Fowler | 724 c420 (Link to this contribution) I wonder whether the Minister might give us some indication of in what proportion those letters of s...

Lord Wallace of Tankerness | 724 c420 (Link to this contribution) I cannot, at the moment, but I clearly conceded that I am not suggesting, and I would not wish to su...

Subjects

Boundary commissions

Constituency size

Constituencies

British dependent territories

Electoral register

Isle of Wight

Prisoners

Members

Population

Voting rights

Legislation

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill 2010-12

Link

View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk