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731 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Elections BillIf the hon. and learned Lady would like to come in at this point I will give way, but I think that that may be one of the last interventions that I take because I need to make…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Elections BillI will make two points on that. The first is that we show identification in everyday life, and reasonably and proportionately so. For example, we show it when we pick up a parcel…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Elections BillThere is a considerable evidence base on what has happened in Northern Ireland, and the Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Worcester (Mr…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Elections BillI am pleased the hon. Lady has made that point so early in the debate. I join her, as I want everyone here to do, in welcoming turnout and in wanting to raise registration and…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Elections BillI beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. I look forward to a thorough and thoughtful debate across the House. Indeed, our work in Parliament is a key pillar of our…07 Sept 2021HANSARDRole of Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral CommissionAs set out in a previous statement to this House (HCWS100), the Government have proposed a series of measures in the Elections Bill that seek to maintain public confidence in the…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Elections BillIt might not have been the intention of the hon. and learned Lady to assist me in making this case, but she does because she allows me to make the critical point that this scheme…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Elections BillThank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker, I shall try to be as quick as I can in concluding my remarks. The answer to the hon. and learned Lady is that, first, we will be…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Elections BillUnder this Bill, as is clear in the impact assessment and the associated documents, there will be a widespread public communication campaign to ensure awareness so that people…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Elections BillDoes the hon. Gentleman, as an experienced Member of this House, think he should be promulgating such nonsense? I do not think so. One of the truest pillars of our democracy is…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Elections BillPolitical and election material will be included. I look forward to discussing the finer details as we work through the Bill. It is incredibly important that we have that…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Elections BillI fear that that may be right. I know that my hon. Friend and others have experience, for example at council level, where they may have seen this happening at first hand. Today, I…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Elections BillThat is exactly the case. Indeed, countries around the world already operate this system with ease, and not only other countries. This policy is already successfully and easily…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Elections BillI shall come to campaign finance shortly, but is that all the right hon. Gentleman has to say on overseas voters? Let me turn to the voting rights of EU citizens, an important…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Elections BillI am pleased that the hon. Gentleman makes that point, because I know a number of hon. Members care about it, and rightly so. I can reassure him and everybody here today that I…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Elections BillYes, I am. What we are doing in the Bill, as I have already explained, is moving undue foreign influence out of our politics. We are doing that with this new category of campaign…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Elections BillI am grateful that the hon. Gentleman has raised that point, because there are two things to be said. The first, which I shall come to shortly in my remarks, is about how we are…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Elections BillMy right hon. Friend makes my next point for me, and she is right. It is important that we think about what will increase confidence in our elections, and I would love the message…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Elections BillI have three points. First, this Bill does the right thing, as I have just explained. Secondly, the Conservative party does the right thing with regard to our donations, as I am…07 Sept 2021HANSARD Elections BillThe hon. Lady shakes her head, but that is what it does, and that is important.07 Sept 2021