Contributions
380 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Sixth sitting)I thank Members for the wide-ranging and constructive points that they have made. The Government accept the thrust of the amendments tabled by the hon. Member for Hamble Valley;…14 Apr 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Sixth sitting)I will first speak to clause 58, schedule 8, Government new clause 60, and Government amendments 39 to 41 and 44 to 78, before turning to the amendments tabled by the Opposition.…14 Apr 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Sixth sitting)The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. Election agents could use a PO box as a correspondence address, but not as their office address. I hope that gives him the reassurance…14 Apr 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Sixth sitting)With the introduction of votes at 16, 14 and 15-year-olds will be able to pre-register as attainers for up to two years before they reach voting age. To safeguard the data of…14 Apr 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Sixth sitting)The hon. Member will appreciate that implementation of the Bill will require substantial secondary legislation. As tempting as it is to set out a timetable, we have to focus on…14 Apr 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Seventh sitting)In the interests of time, I will continue. On the other remarks made by the hon. Member for North Herefordshire, I hear her point about profit and revenue, and it is highlighted…14 Apr 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Seventh sitting)It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. I will be guided by you, but I do not intend to speak to new clauses 13, 32 and 52 at this stage. However, to…14 Apr 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Seventh sitting)The hon. Member has made her point. The Government believe that there is a place for company donations from UK companies. We just feel that we should be much stricter about the…14 Apr 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Sixth sitting)I will speak first to clause 60, before addressing the amendments tabled by hon. Members. Clause 60 directly responds to long-standing concerns about vulnerabilities in the…14 Apr 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Seventh sitting)Any campaigner wishing to influence the electorate should be prepared to be transparent. Imprint rules play an important role in upholding trust in UK democratic processes by…14 Apr 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Seventh sitting)I will speak now to clause 62 and Government amendments 79 to 87, which were tabled in my name. I will come to the other amendments later. The clause introduces measures that have…14 Apr 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Seventh sitting)I will speak to clauses 65 to 69 before turning to the new clauses tabled by hon. Members. Under the current enforcement framework, most political finance offences, regardless of…14 Apr 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Seventh sitting)The hon. Gentleman makes a really important point. As I mentioned earlier, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology announced that the Government have…14 Apr 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Seventh sitting)My officials work very closely with the Electoral Commission and would not have acted without consideration and with consultation with it. I remind the Committee that decisions…14 Apr 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Seventh sitting)It is our intention to increase the maximum fine level in secondary legislation, as I stated earlier. Its level will be debated at that time. We will debate it in secondary…14 Apr 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Seventh sitting)Opposition Members did ask about the level at which we would set the fine. I have now consulted my notes; we intend, through secondary legislation, to increase the limit to…14 Apr 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Seventh sitting)As I understand it, we will be setting the maximum fine in secondary legislation, but I will confirm that, because I have almost lost the thread of what I was saying.14 Apr 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Seventh sitting)This clause strengthens the electoral regime by restoring a clear, objective test for forfeiture: if an individual donor was not actually on an electoral register at the time of…14 Apr 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Seventh sitting)We have considered it, and we have decided to opt for a fine of £500,000. However, when we introduce the secondary legislation, the debate may flesh out that argument, and the…14 Apr 2026HANSARDRepresentation of the People Bill (Seventh sitting)We will consider those points. The Rycroft recommendations are being considered very carefully. We will respond to them in due course and we will come back to Parliament with our…14 Apr 2026