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Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

Perhaps, Sir Alan, you will allow me briefly to add my tributes to Her Majesty the Queen and to the right hon. Member for North Antrim (Rev. Ian Paisley), who on 6 April reached a similarly great milestone. I, too, am puzzled by the Government’s approach to anonymous registration—a point that was outlined eventually by the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Lembit Öpik). Once he had managed to find his notes, he made a good point in questioning why clause 10 of the Electoral Administration Bill will not apply to Northern Ireland. That is rather puzzling. I am a little concerned by the way in which legislation is being treated at the moment. I hope that you will not consider it out of order, Sir Alan, if I mention that yesterday we had to consider an important order upstairs at the same time as an important statement on Northern Ireland was being made in the Chamber. I raised the issue on a point of order in Committee yesterday, because it does not seem to be a good way of managing what can hardly be described as trivia. The measures that we are discussing are very important, and I ask the Government to consider my point when they introduce legislation and orders in one form or another. All of us in Committee yesterday questioned why the order was necessary when, at that very time, the Government were saying in the Chamber that they were looking to restore the Assembly. That seems a very odd way of going about business. I will not try your patience any further on that, Sir Alan, but I would like to put it on the record that we cannot give legislation the serious treatment that it deserves when hon. Members are expected to be in two places at the same time. I will not take much of the Committee’s time on this issue other than to say that the official Opposition understand the need for anonymous registration particularly, but not exclusively, in Northern Ireland. Other Members have made points about how people in Great Britain might want to exercise the right to cast their votes but understandably for one reason or another do not feel safe about their names being on the register. That problem exists in Great Britain, but it exists particularly in Northern Ireland for reasons with which we are all unfortunately very familiar. We therefore support the retention of the clause.