Contributions
1,177 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Fourth sitting)My hon. Friend is absolutely correct. As I say, this Minister is a Minister of integrity, but I find this out in opposition. I work for a shadow Secretary of State; the Minister…24 Mar 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Fourth sitting)It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair again, Dame Siobhain. It was a wonderful election campaign—oh, I’ve done that bit. The clauses deal with voter pilot schemes. As I had…24 Mar 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Fourth sitting)The Minister said that the intention is not for these things to be challenged on the basis of integrity, but that does not provide clarity or certainty at all—it does not mean…24 Mar 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Fourth sitting)I do not think it will be a surprise to the Committee that I wholeheartedly agree. This is alien to me. Asking the Committee to vote on the principle of something without the…24 Mar 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Fourth sitting)Can the Minister outline what political engagement she has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on what they make of these proposals, and whether she has had written…24 Mar 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Fourth sitting)I apologise to my hon. Friend the Member for Broxbourne for not responding to his very reasonable suggestion. If the Minister were to say that she wanted to base pilots across the…24 Mar 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Fourth sitting)The Government have the luxury of being able to carry over this Bill. Its Report stage will be not in this Session, but in the next. Ministers have plenty of time to do this…24 Mar 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Fourth sitting)My hon. Friend raises a good point that I had not thought of, as is normally the case. I am concerned that the political leadership have not given their sign-off or their…24 Mar 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Fourth sitting)How can a policy be tested robustly if the Government have not outlined the policy position or what they want to get out of a pilot, and we do not know how robustly that is going…24 Mar 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Fourth sitting)I thank the Minister for outlining clauses 26 to 29. I believe that all parties represented on the Committee agree with devolution. The Minister outlined that there has been…24 Mar 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Fourth sitting)Further to that point of order, Dame Siobhain. I think it should be entirely out of order for an hon. Member to make a point of order and say that I am time-wasting. I am taking…24 Mar 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Fourth sitting)If the Bill passes, will it require a legislative consent motion?24 Mar 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Third sitting)I agree with my hon. Friend. I was a Conservative at 15—maybe that means I have just been completely stupid all through my life. [ Interruption . ] I said it—there is no need for…24 Mar 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Third sitting)What I think is fairly obvious is that if there was consistency from the Government, someone’s being allowed to vote for their representatives would enable them to stand as a…24 Mar 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Fourth sitting)I agree entirely. As I have attempted to outline, and as I think my hon. Friend is saying, without such detail why should people trust a word that the Government say? It has been…24 Mar 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Fourth sitting)Will the Minister give way briefly one more time?24 Mar 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Fourth sitting)After the Minister’s winding up, I think it is even more necessary to push amendments 26 and 27 to a vote—particularly amendment 26, which concerns data checks. The Government are…24 Mar 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Third sitting)I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, but look at the evidence that the Electoral Reform Society gave the Committee. It believes in a change of voting system and in…24 Mar 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Fourth sitting)I am pretty agnostic about new clause 44 because I think it is quite vague, but I understand the reason it has been tabled. Earlier I outlined a concern that I do not believe the…24 Mar 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Fourth sitting)Further to that point of order, Dame Siobhain. The hon. Member for North Herefordshire said the words, from a sedentary position, “It is time-wasting.”24 Mar 2026