---

Electoral Administration Bill

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister, who, as always, has been very gracious in trying to move the business forward. This issue is of such major importance that I do not want to play with it if there is any prospect of arriving at a workable solution. I do not claim enormous expertise or that I have drafted my amendment exactly right, and I can see that little parts need to be joined up. I am most grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, for his intervention. We had not spoken before but, from his experience as Adjutant-General, he has given me great encouragement that my indexing and monitoring system is practical and possible. That is very useful. I am also encouraged that not only is there a new Secretary of State for Defence but there is a new junior Minister in Mr Tom Watson, who wrote an extraordinary pamphlet for the Fabian Society in 2000 about the importance of everyone voting and how it should be made compulsory. So I think we may have friends in the areas where life has been difficult in the past. Because this issue is so important and because of the assurances given by the Minister, even at this eleventh hour I should like to wait to see whether we can get a perfect solution that we all agree on and that will hold when the Bill goes back to the other place. That is very dear to me and I do not want to go fast and lose it at the last moment. Under those circumstances, with the assurances the Minister has given, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment until Third Reading. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. [Amendment No. 15 not moved.] Clause 10 [Anonymous registration]: