Vol. 782 Wednesday No. 132 29 March 2017 PARLIAMENTARYDEBATES (HANSARD) HOUSE OF LORDS OFFICIAL REPORT ORDEROFBUSINESS Lord Speaker’s Statement...................................................................................................589 Questions Elections and Referendums: Spending Rules..................................................................589 Channel 4 .......................................................................................................................592 Electoral Fraud ..............................................................................................................594 Divorce Legislation.........................................................................................................597 Brexit: Triggering Article 50 Statement........................................................................................................................599 Digital Economy Bill Report (3rd Day)............................................................................................................615 Horserace Betting Levy Regulations 2017 Motion to Approve ..........................................................................................................670 Digital Economy Bill Report (3rd Day) (Continued) ......................................................................................687 Lords wishing to be supplied with these Daily Reports should give notice to this effect to the Printed Paper Office. 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This issue of the Official Report is also available on the Internet at https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2017-03-29 The first time a Member speaks to a new piece of parliamentary business, the following abbreviations are used to show their party affiliation: Abbreviation Party/Group CB Cross Bench Con Conservative DUP Democratic Unionist Party GP Green Party Ind Lab Independent Labour Ind LD Independent Liberal Democrat Ind SD Independent Social Democrat Ind UU Independent Ulster Unionist Lab Labour LD Liberal Democrat LD Ind Liberal Democrat Independent Non-afl Non-affiliated PC Plaid Cymru UKIP UK Independence Party UUP Ulster Unionist Party No party affiliation is given for Members serving the House in a formal capacity, the Lords spiritual, Members on leave of absence or Members who are otherwise disqualified from sitting in the House. © Parliamentary Copyright House of Lords 2017, this publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/. 589 Lord Speaker’s Statement [29 MARCH 2017] Elections and Referendums 590 House of Lords legislation which prevented the purchasing of particular seats. The defence against this charge is that the law is Wednesday 29 March 2017 ambiguous about what is local and what is national spending. If so, should not the law be changed to 3 pm prevent abuse of the democratic process in this way? Prayers—read by the Lord Bishop of Winchester. Lord Young of Cookham: I am grateful to the noble Lord for the way he put that question. He will understand Lord Speaker’s Statement that I cannot respond to the particular instances that have now been referred to the police and prosecution 3.06 pm authorities.The legislation—the Political Parties,Elections and Referendums Act—sought to make a distinction The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler): My Lords, I would between national spending on the one hand and like to make a short Statement about Parliament’s constituency spending on the other. As I said a few response to the tragic events of last Wednesday. moments ago, I think it makes sense to wait until the As would be normal after such events, we are seeking investigations by the Electoral Commission and the to make sure that any lessons are learned. We will do police are completed. Then, of course, we should this through two reviews. First, Mr Speaker and I are stand back and look at the legislation to see whether commissioning an external independent review of how we need greater clarity for all political parties in the perimeter of the Parliamentary Estate, including interpreting how that distinction should be made. outbuildings,is secured and protected. Weplan to produce a preliminary report by the end of April. Lord Hayward (Con): I welcome what my noble Secondly, at the same time, the Clerks of both friend just said on this particular convoluted collection Houses are commissioning an externally led review of of legislation. The process of conducting elections the lessons learned from the operation inside Parliament has moved on dramatically over the last 20 years. In of the incident management framework. This is to reality, the law in all its guises has been in need of report by the end of June. All Members will shortly reform throughout that period. May I also make a receive an invitation to contribute their views and quick reference to the third Question on the Order their experiences of that day to aid these reviews. Paper, and say that that may include treating? Members will be aware that today marks exactly a week on from the shocking events of 22 March. Once again, we send our condolences and sympathies to all Lord Young of Cookham: I am grateful to my noble those affected. Our thoughts will be, in particular, friend. He is right to say that there are a number of with the Metropolitan Police as they mourn their reports—the report from Sir Eric Pickles on fraud in colleague, PC Keith Palmer. local elections, the report from my noble friend Lord Hodgson on third-party campaigning, and the interim report of the Law Commission—which have an impact Elections and Referendums: Spending on the legislation on elections. As I said a few moments Rules ago, it makes sense to stand back, look at all the Question recommendations and, in consultation with the Electoral Commission and all the political parties, see how best 3.07 pm to take this forward in order to restore public confidence in the democratic system. Asked by Lord Rennard Toask Her Majesty’sGovernment what assessment Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Lab): Recently, during they have made of the case for reviewing legislation the consideration of the Bill of the noble Lord, Lord concerning spending rules in elections and referendums. Tyler, the Minister told the House about the willingness of the Government to look at areas where agreement Lord Young of Cookham (Con): My Lords, we are can be reached and incremental changes agreed. Can consideringcarefullytheconclusionsandrecommendations the Minister update us further in this regard, and will of anumberof relevantreportsonelectionandreferendum he look at involving those Members of the House who spending, including the Electoral Commission’s reports can bring valuable experience to those discussions? on elections held in 2015 and 2016, and on the EU referendum. While investigations by the police and the Lord Young of Cookham: Again, I am grateful to Electoral Commission are ongoing, it would not be the noble Lord, who took part in that debate on appropriatefortheGovernmenttocometoanyconclusions. 10 March on the Private Member’s Bill of the noble Lord, Lord Tyler. At the end of that debate, I indicated Lord Rennard (LD): My Lords, reports by the that the Government were anxious to see if there was a investigative journalist Michael Crick and by the Daily consensus on some of the measures that might be Mirror and others suggest that it was possible at the brought forward. I indicated that the Minister for the last general election for political parties to spend Constitution, Chris Skidmore, was anxious to meet several hundred thousand pounds within individual noble Lords who took part in that debate to see constituencies in order to change the outcome of the whether we can take incremental reforms forward on a election within those seats and avoid previously enforced cross-party basis. 591 Elections and Referendums [LORDS] Channel 4 592 Lord Tyler (LD): My Lords, again I thank the such constitutional importance was taken by a simple Minister for taking this initiative to make sure that majority? Is there no precedent in Parliament for it to these discussions do take place and then fulfil, of be altered through legislation? course, the promise in the 2015 Conservative manifesto. I remind him that during that debate on 10 March I LordYoungof Cookham:ThenobleEarlmayremember made specific reference to some of the discrepancies in that during the passage of the relevant legislation referendum election expenses, to which he referred amendments were tabled to secure certain thresholds just now, because of course those are not subject to in turnout and majorities, and I think those amendments the difficulties that might occur with those matters were defeated after a debate. that are possibly going to go before the courts. He will have seen the report from the Electoral Commission yesterday, which has some very good recommendations Channel 4 for looking at some of these issues. Will he confirm Question that that could be part of the discussion that is due to take place shortly? 3.15 pm Asked by Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury Lord Young of Cookham: The noble Lord is quite To ask Her Majesty’s Government