I want to preface my remarks about these amendments, because they relate to a fundamental ingredient of our democratic life and our democratic society. I have often spoken in my role as shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs about the importance of civil society. The noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, who has responsibility for human rights, frequently hears this and responds incredibly positively. There are many societies and countries where the guarantors of human rights are not Parliaments and parliamentarians but civil society, faith groups, women’s groups and trade unions. They are the important ingredients of a thriving democratic society. If we take them away, we do not have such a society; we end up with a society where elections may be held every five years but with a president like President Putin. These are the things that we have to be concerned about.
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That is why these amendments are important with regard to consultation. On political parties, I am not just talking about the Labour Party, although obviously I can talk at length about it. As I said to the Bill team a couple of days ago, if you want a short, concise history, read the Collins report. I know it had consequences that we did not necessarily intend but it gives a good chronological history of the party, with regard to how it was established and the role of civil society, in particular why civil society thought it needed a party that should have political representation in our parliamentary democracy. Of course, it stemmed from that action at the beginning of the last century, when laws were imposed on civil society groups of working people that inhibited their right to organise and to demand better wages and conditions. That has been an important ingredient.
I am not being exclusive about trade unions here. This applies even at the most local of levels—I know the Electoral Commission would not necessarily be involved in these areas. On the idea that this statement should be about how we improve engagement, I am glad that the noble Lord, Lord Hodgson, is here. I have mentioned his name several times already in debates because I know that he understands the importance of civil society and education in how we
improve engagement in our democratic system. Anything that acts as a barrier to that should be considered very carefully.
If we are going to talk about how we improve engagement with such a statement—I think the Minister said it himself about the indicative statement—it is vital that civil society is properly consulted. That comes back to this other issue that was raised about when you do or do not consult. Education about civil society starts at school. Even though I am a member of Humanists UK, I went to a church youth club and sang in the church choir from the ages of 10 to 12. In fact, strangely enough, my role in that church choir prompted me to set up a mini-trade union. Every time we had a wedding, the vicar of my church said to the choir, “They are friends of the church and we’re not going to charge them, so you won’t get your five shillings this week.” I objected to that. I said, “How come the vicar can decide whether I get paid or not?” That prompted me to be quite active in organising. I quickly left the choir after that—I do not think the vicar was very keen on me. I am not saying that that made me into an atheist; other issues did that.
That takes me back to the point about why civil society should be consulted. We can say that these are strictly matters of electoral law but I come back to the point that the Minister made. He said that one of the things this statement will include is how we improve engagement in the electoral process. That is why it is so vital that we include civil society.
As I say, there are whole elements of our civil society that impact on our democratic life, and I am not being exclusive about trade unions. One of the things that struck me is that even the Women’s Institute now has incredibly important debates about civil society. Even with the global crisis we face now, when we look for homes for refugees, faith groups, women’s groups and the WI will respond. That will make our country a better place.
There is one criticism I do want to make. When the Minister started consulting civil society on elements of the Bill, I was extremely disappointed that, although the Bill is really important to the trade unions—we will come to the amendments relating to them later—they were an afterthought. They were not included in the first round of civil society consultation. That was very worrying. Admittedly, there were then consecutive meetings, and they were engaged, but it is disappointing that trade unions were considered an afterthought. Trade unions are engaged politically—some through the Labour Party, but not all of them. Some trade unions that have a political fund operate in different ways: they are not affiliated, but they support the democratic process, or campaigns to influence it. Those are important ingredients.
When we come to the other parts of the Bill relating to civil society, these amendments will reflect something important. The noble Lord, Lord Hodgson, in the Select Committee report on civic engagement, stressed the importance of not adopting policies that inhibit the voice of civil society. That would be very damaging. What we are trying to do here is to make sure that we prioritise—put higher up the list—the need not only to engage but to consult properly. We might then end up with an improved statement—even though I do not agree with the principle of a statement. I beg to move.