Contributions
2,291 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDElections BillMy Lords, I will first answer the noble Lord, Lord Stunell: it is late and I do not have all the answers, but we will get a letter to him as soon as we can to answer his…23 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillI think that is a hypothetical question, but I shall certainly get a legal opinion on it. On Amendment 148, as the noble Baroness said, all those issues on sanctions should be…23 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillI fear that at this late hour, I will disappoint the noble Lord. This amendment would require the Government to prepare a report on proposals for the creation of overseas…23 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillSecurity is not as necessary for that as it would be for voting. Amendment 150 from the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, would require the Government to ask the Electoral Commission to…23 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillMy Lords, I thank the Committee for the debate; it is a debate we had two years ago when we were discussing a previous Bill. If applying to vote was difficult or time-consuming,…23 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillI think that all of us campaigners have been asked the same question many times on the doorstep. This Government entirely share the concern that no offence should criminalise…21 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillMy Lords, in answer to that question from the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, keeping the numbers at four and not allowing anybody to have as many proxy votes as they like will help…21 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillMy Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for speaking on behalf of my noble friend Lord Holmes of Richmond. We did debate his Amendment 118A, and we are in contact with him on the…21 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillMy Lords, as has been said, these amendments are to Clause 7, which concerns the important issue of the secrecy of the ballot for postal and proxy voters. The clause extends the…21 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillBefore my noble friend Lord Hayward sat down, the noble Lord, Lord Sikka, rose to intervene. Perhaps we could allow the noble Lord’s intervention.21 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillMy Lords, these probing amendments seek to test the defence for political campaigners set out in Clause 4, which bans said campaigners from handling postal votes issued to other…21 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillI can confirm that we have not done that impact analysis. The important impact will be after.17 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillLet me respond to that. I was not talking about modelling; I was talking about groupings and communications between DLUHC officers and local authority election officers in…17 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillI cannot tell the noble Lord whether that has been factored in. I will ask the team and come back to him. The fact that local authorities are working with the team means that…17 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillAs I said, the Electoral Commission has agreed to do much of this. I will come to local authorities now. The noble Baronesses, Lady Hayman, Lady Pinnock and Lady Meacher, quite…17 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillI am quoting from the 2021 Electoral Commission winter tracker, which was clear that the majority of the public, two out of three voters, 66%, say a requirement to show…17 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillCan we now move on, please?17 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillI think that is a different discussion.17 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillYou need to do both. We are trying to make sure that people in the communities that my noble friend Lady Verma has stood up and very bravely spoken about have the opportunity, as…17 Mar 2022HANSARDElections BillMy Lords, that is if anybody goes back because they have not been intimidated into not going in the first place, I have to say. I respectfully say that this is something that we…17 Mar 2022