---

Northern Ireland Assembly Members Bill [HL]

My Lords, I will be brief. I spoke on this previously. I was uneasy about the restriction on people having dual mandates. I mentioned that there were people in Northern Ireland with triple mandates. The Nobel laureate, Mr John Hume, was an elected Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, an elected Member of our national Parliament and an elected Member of the European Parliament. We had the same situation with the leader of the DUP, Dr Ian Paisley. I understand the restrictions on them getting three salaries, or three sets of expenses; but it is a dangerous step for Parliament to decide who people can or cannot vote for. We are restricting who can be a candidate in elections. That is a very dangerous train for Parliament to take. One further question was brought to my attention in Northern Ireland.