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Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

The Minister laboured the point that political parties did not object during the consultation process, but I would be interested to hear what the chief electoral officer said—I assume that he was consulted. Moreover, I would love to hear the reaction of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission to the Secretary of State’s attempt to override the chief electoral officer’s decision and cut across provisions of the Human Rights Act 1998 and the European convention on human rights on the obligation to have free elections under conditions that ensure the free expression of the opinion of the people when voting for the legislature.