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Proceeding contribution from Lord Bach (Labour) in the House of Lords on Wednesday, 8 December 2010. It occurred during Committee of the Whole House (HL) and Debate on bill on Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill.


Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

My Lords, I will speak very briefly. We have heard very powerful arguments for the amendment. We on the Front Bench support the amendment. We do not claim that it is the biggest or most important amendment, but it does have an importance in the Bill. I hope that the Government are big enough to accept a well argued amendment that would improve the Bill. It is about fairness. The Bill already covers Wales in this way; surely it should do the same here. The amendment specifies that the ballot papers would be printed in the two languages only in Scotland. Surely the cost of printing the question in two languages would not be great. Administratively, it would not be difficult to organise; and, practically, such a change could be straightforward. We have heard from a number of speakers how, in this age of devolution—


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
723 c233 
Session
2010-12
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
Subjects
Alternative vote Ballots Administration General elections Referendums Voting methods Scots Gaelic language Voting rights Welsh language
Legislation
Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill 2010-12
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk