I shall endeavour not to speak for the full six minutes, so that others can contribute. It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson), and I agreed with much of what he said.
My principal concerns about the Bill relate to part 2 and the issue of third parties. The rallying cry from Government Back Benchers seems to be, “This is better than doing nothing,” but a large part of the Bill is not better than doing nothing, and the rest of it probably is doing nothing.
Government Members appear to be very worried about charities. According to the hon. Member for Ealing Central and Acton (Angie Bray), charities do not do politics. Things are clearly a lot quieter in Ealing during the run-up to an election than they are in Darlington, where organisations such as Stonewall, Shelter, and even the NCT and Age UK devote much time, effort and creativity to trying to persuade candidates to sign up to some cause or pledge. I can understand why the Deputy Prime Minister may be keen on reducing that kind of activity before an election, but it is nevertheless crucial in encouraging vibrancy and participation in our electoral process by people who may be largely sceptical about politics. I think that such campaigning by charities is good for our democracy, because it helps more people to engage in political debate and enlightens candidates as well. I myself knew nothing of badgers—among other issues—before I was lobbied about them, and I found that lobbying immensely helpful.
The Leader of the House seemed to be attempting to inject some ambiguity into the position taken by the voluntary sector, but every piece of correspondence that I have received from charities in the run-up to the debate has expressed deep concern about the implications of the changes that the Bill may introduce. He said that he had met representatives of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations yesterday, and that everything
was fine, but that is not what those organisations are telling me. For the time being, I remain concerned about the impact of the Bill on charities, which are expressing deep alarm about it.