Contributions
1,912 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)Committee members may want to get out their smelling salts, because the Government agree in principle with the introduction of online absent voting applications. The Government…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)Our position has always been that after our exit from the EU existing voting and candidacy rights should be maintained where possible. The new clause would extend the…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)The right to vote in parliamentary elections and choose the next UK Government is rightly restricted to British citizens and those with the closest historical links to our…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)The Government believe that when citizens commit a crime that is sufficiently serious to detain them in prison, they have broken their contract with society to such an extent that…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)I was amazed to hear the hon. Member for Argyll and Bute, who is clearly suffering from significant amnesia if he claims not to have heard the arguments on votes at 16. As the…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)New clauses 3 and 11 would impose a legal duty on public bodies, requiring them to provide information to electoral registration officers for the purposes of automatic electoral…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)I have listened to the arguments carefully, and I am not persuaded that there is a need for a citizens’ assembly on this issue and for a statutory requirement, so I Members to…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)I will finish this point, because I know we want to finish this this afternoon. This was a manifesto commitment; people voted in the 2019 election knowing that this was in our…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)No. I do not have a list of the mayoral elections that would be different, because the point is that we are not doing this for political reasons; we are doing it to simplify the…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)And I still reject the hon. Gentleman’s point. The fact is that we have a Labour Mayor at the moment; we have had more Labour Mayors than Conservative Mayors; and first past the…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)I want to respond to a few points made by Opposition Members. On engagement, the policy was announced back in March. It is just that it was not a Cabinet Office policy; it was a…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)I believe it was a coalition Government who introduced PCCs, not a purely Conservative Government. We have had PCCs for 10 years now and there has been plenty of time to review…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)All I can say is that that would have been a question for my predecessor. These discussions happened before I came into post. I know that this was a Government manifesto…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)These amendments move elections for police and crime commissioners in England and Wales, the Mayor of London, combined authority Mayors and local authority Mayors to the simple…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)The clauses in part 7 make general and miscellaneous provisions. Clause 57 provides for a power to allow amendments to the Bill, or any provisions amended by the Bill in other…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)The Government are opposed to amendments 87 and 88 because they seek to remove a much-needed element of flexibility in the digital imprint regime for campaigners. Under our…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)I will now continue to present the Government’s proposed new digital imprint regime and the various requirements pertaining to it, which are outlined in clauses 37 to 56. I will…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)The provisions pertain to the Government’s proposed new digital imprint regime. The new regime will require promoters, and those promoting on their behalf, behind digital campaign…26 Oct 2021HANSARDElections Bill (Twelfth sitting)The Government cannot support the new clause as we believe that in order to maintain the integrity of the electoral process, the emergency proxy provision cannot be drawn too…26 Oct 2021