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Sir Patrick Cormack (South Staffordshire) (Con): Will the Minister confirm that a decision to conduct three rather than four pilots would be welcomed by the Electoral Commission, which has made it plain over the past few days that perhaps Yorkshire and Humber should be conceded, but not the north-west?
Mr. Leslie: The hon. Gentleman has moved his position from previous occasions. He should know that, in our democracy, it is this House, acting on the advice of Ministers, that makes final decisions when it comes to elections policy. We take advice from the Electoral Commission and hear what it has to say, but at the end of the day that day ended some time ago Parliament has the right to take a firm decision.
Mr. David Watts (St. Helens, North) (Lab): Does my hon. Friend agree that the potential for fraud is the major reason why Liberal peers oppose the north-west being involved in the postal ballot? Can he explain why Liberal Democrat peers are happy to have a postal vote in a referendum, but are not happy to have one for local and European elections?
Mr. Leslie: My hon. Friend looks for logic in the Opposition parties' thinking, but their rationale is not apparent. Hon. Members will be astonished by the history of how we are here today. The Government decided to go with four regions on 21 January, and the House of Commons ratified that decision on 8 March. The House of Commons reconfirmed that decision on 16 March, and reiterated it only last week on 24 March, but here we are again.
Mr. John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con): All the time that we still have a second chamber I believe that it is still Government policy to allow us a second chamber its views should be taken seriously and there should be give and take. The second chamber has given up its insistence on two pilots; why can the Minister not give up his insistence on four pilots and reach a sensible compromise?
Mr. Leslie: It is true that the other place has powers to revise and amend legislation, and, as we heard last week, noble Lords are experienced and often speak with authority. In this case, however, the other place's powers are being abused by the Opposition parties in their pursuit of overturning the will of the Government and the House of Commons. There comes a point when revision and amendment become obstructive and vexatious. This is not real scrutiny, but a brazen attempt by the Conservatives and the Liberals actively to prevent people in the north-west from having convenient voting mechanisms in the European and local elections.
Mr. Nick Hawkins (Surrey Heath) (Con): Does the Minister recognise that his case is fatally undermined by the fact that, as recently as 16 December, he said in this House not once, twice or three times, but about six times that the Government intended to have three pilots? The other place has reluctantly conceded three pilots. The Government, under huge pressure from the Deputy Prime Minister, have changed their mind and are seeking to insist on four. His own colleagues have fatally undermined the Minister.
Mr. Leslie: As the hon. Gentleman knows, we have been discussing this since 21 January, when the Government made it absolutely clear that we wanted four regions: the east midlands, the north-east, the north-west, and Yorkshire and Humber. It is important that we proceed with all-postal voting in four regions, and I shall tell him why. We already know about the difficulties with turnout, not least in local and European elections, and it is important to ensure that we can respond with modern electoral mechanisms. We also know that all-postal voting is popular and convenient among the public, which is proved by the fact that it usually results in a rise in turnout of at least 10 per cent. We know that the resources are there for pilots in four regions, and if we can afford to go ahead, there is no reason why we should not do so.
Most importantly, we know that regional returning officers in all four regions are keen that all-postal voting should proceed; indeed, they perceive several risks in not proceeding. In correspondence with me and my Department, they have expressed worry that the delays and uncertainty created by the other place have cast a blight on their planning and preparations, because they find it difficult to proceed while there is no legislative clarity.
Mr. Clive Betts (Sheffield, Attercliffe) (Lab): I am sure that my hon. Friend is aware that over the past few weeks the Select Committee on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has been taking evidence on all-postal vote elections. When returning officers from Yorkshire gave evidence, they made it clear that any attempt to
reverse the all-postal ballot proposals would make it virtually impossible for them to reorganise their arrangements. If that is true for Yorkshire, it must be true for the north-west as well.
Mr. Leslie: My hon. Friend makes a salient point. I have heard that many of the suppliers and contractors who normally engage with returning officers are worried that, if this uncertainty continues, via the obstruction by Opposition parties, they may not be able to proceed.
New ward boundaries have been introduced in many metropolitan areas following boundary reviews, and returning officers may well find it difficult to locate local polling stations within them. That could prove particularly difficult if the north-west is forced by the amendment to go back to conventional systems. Those returning officers would have to find the staff to ensure that the polling stations could run efficiently. There are all sorts of reasons why effectively forcing the north-west to go back on what was planned and return to the conventional system would create difficulties. It would be irresponsible for Opposition parties to force that situation.
Mr. Hawkins: Should not returning officers have to wait until the legislation is on the statute book? If they are behaving as the hon. Member for Sheffield, Attercliffe (Mr. Betts) suggests, they are mistaken. They should wait until the legislation is in its final form, not jump the gun because they are under pressure from party political views expressed by Government Members.
5.30 pm
Mr. Leslie: The hon. Gentleman knows that we have been trying to resolve the matter for far longer than he suggests. If we had been able to resolve it far sooner, returning officers would not be asking questions about uncertainty. We have always been keen to ensure swift enactment of the measure but the Opposition parties' abuse of the powers of the other place has caused uncertainty. I hope that they will stop using the other place improperly to obstruct the Bill, allow its passage to continue and permit resolution so that four regions can be selected.
Mr. David Borrow (South Ribble) (Lab): Does my hon. Friend believe it reasonable for returning officers in the north-west to assume that, once the House of Commons has said that the region should be one of the postal vote pilots, they can plan on that basis, rather than assuming that the House of Lords will kibosh the whole thing?
Mr. Leslie: As my hon. Friend says, an almost unprecedented constitutional situation is developing. There has been a significant amount of ping-pong between the two Houses on previous legislation, but the House of Lords rarely stands in the way of the will of the House of Commons, especially on elections policy. The root cause is clear: Conservative and Liberal peers have been instructed by their respective Front Benchers to use the revising powers of the other place to try to scupper legislation whenever the bandwagon appears and the
opportunity arises. That could be their motivation for standing in the way of the north-west, especially, having more convenient voting mechanisms.
Mr. Gordon Prentice (Pendle) (Lab): May I take my hon. Friend back to the letter that Sam Younger sent him on 4 March? The nub of the matter appears to be that the Electoral Commission said:
- “the rollout of all postal elections needs to be underpinned by a more robust statutory framework.”
Mr. Leslie: My hon. Friend is right that we support piloting all-postal arrangements and that, as the Electoral Commission suggested, before we have a wider roll-out for local government elections nationwide, there may need to be changes to individual registration and so on. However, in the interim, it is important to begin to scale up the piloting of all-postal arrangements. There has been considerable piloting of all-postal arrangements in previous local elections. If we were not allowed to proceed with four regions, fewer people would vote on an all-postal basis than in 2003. That would not be scaling up, but scaling back and it would be perceived as a backward step.
Mr. John Bercow (Buckingham) (Con): I fear that, in the course of a short speech, the Minister has already contradicted himself. He said that the other place was guilty of a procedural impropriety but went on to refer to its use of revising powers. He knows perfectly well that the other place has those powers and it has simply had the temerity, in his view, to use them. Why does not he admit that the real sin of the other place is to disagree with him?
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