---

Political Parties and Elections Bill

I was making a point about the Minister's attitude towards the Conservative amendments. I would be more sanguine about the amendments if I did not know the Conservative party's track record in driving a coach and horses through election law and the public test of what is acceptable—for instance, by taking money from people who do not pay tax in this country to fund marginal constituencies by £20,000, £30,000 or £40,000 a year before the election is even declared. I do not want to give the Conservative party any loophole through which it can jump; nor do the public and nor do those in the media, who are watching us carefully in the House.