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Political Parties and Elections Bill

No, because I think I would be brought back into order if I did so. The hon. Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans)—he is not here, but it is important that I correct the record—asked whether aggregate donations would breach the limit. Although I did not say so in terms, I said that I thought that the current law was that donations were aggregated. However, that is not the case. At the moment, there is no requirement to aggregate multiple donations in one year. We are considering whether such a provision would be needed, and that will require a great deal of consultation down the track—not for this Bill. In any case, there are some practical problems as regards aggregating donations. That is an existing issue that is not affected directly one way or the other by the provisions in this group of amendments. I hope that that is helpful. I also hope that my note is correct; otherwise, I will end up having to correct the record again. The hon. and learned Member for Torridge and West Devon—I apologise again for my cough—asked about proportionality and whether these provisions are consistent with the provisions of articles 10 and 11. At the moment, there is no ban on any non-permissible donor giving up to £200, soon to be £500. We are proposing that, for these purposes, restrictions on a non-permissible donation apply only at £7,500, so somebody could play an active part in British politics from abroad while giving up to that amount. Overall, the restriction is relatively proportionate.