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Political Parties and Elections Bill

My Lords, Amendment 23 requires a brief word of explanation. I raised the issue of the statutory numbers of commissioners during the Clause 6 stand part debate in Grand Committee. The Minister said that the matter could and would be covered in a letter. As is indicated by an asterisk on today’s Marshalled List, I did not table my amendment until late last week when no letter had arrived. I think that I may have been subject to the same conditions as my noble friend Lord Bates. In putting down the amendment, I had no discourteous or aggressive intent; I just wanted to ensure that there was a peg on which to raise the issue on Report. Indeed, my respect for the courtesy of Ministers had suggested to me a possible circumstantial reason for the Government’s silence, in that Hansard put the Government’s assurance into the mouth of the noble Lord, Lord Tunnicliffe, whereas my mind’s eye and ear told me that the noble Lord, Lord Bach, had uttered it. Therefore, it is possible that the matter fell inadvertently between two stools. I am grateful for the letter from the noble Lord, Lord Bach, which greeted my return today. It explains the rationale of the Bill’s text in a way that the Explanatory Notes, despite their title, do not in this instance. I shall of course understand if the noble Lord, Lord Bach, wishes to put on the record what is in his letter, but I can give him an assurance now that his letter has wholly satisfied me. I beg to move.