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Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

Briefly, I wish to make two points about the amendments that we have tabled. For the sake of clarification, can the Minister explain why the year 2010 was chosen? Does it have something to do with the general census? If not, it may have been a good idea to fall in with the census. In common with the hon. Member for North Down (Lady Hermon) and the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Lembit Öpik), we feel that a 10-year interval is too long. It is in everyone’s interest to encourage people to register to vote and to ensure that the register is up to date and accurate. We did not object to clause 2, which abolished the annual canvass, but a 10-year interval is too long, which is why we tabled our amendments. We should therefore like the Minister to explain why he chose 2010 to conduct a canvass and why he chose an interval of 10 years.