Lisa Smart
MP for Hazel Grove · Liberal Democrat · United Kingdom
“Those warnings have now come to fruition as thousands of retired civil servants have experienced delays or complete failures in pension payments since Capita took over.”
“That, hopefully, will provide further useful clarity for those who may thus far have been confused about what they do and do not have to declare.”
“What the Minister has announced today will close loopholes, but too many will remain. Will she consider exploring the benefits of a cap on donations from UK donors, and year-round spending caps by political parties and candidates? That is the way in which loopholes are truly closed.”
“I am grateful to the Minister for advance sight of his statement. The failure of Capita to meet the 30 June deadline is deeply disappointing, but, sadly, not surprising.”
“I am grateful to the Minister for advance sight of her statement. Just over five months ago, I stood here and asked the Secretary of State to strengthen the Representation of the People Bill by ensuring that post-tax profits, not overall revenue, were used when assessing the eligibility of company donations.”
“Although there are currently some restrictions in place, they do not go far enough—for example, MPs are strictly banned from acting as parliamentary strategists, advisers or consultants, That clearly recognises that having a second job can contradict our role as MPs, but it is not a full solution.”
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“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Dame Siobhain. Trust in our democracy is not something that we can afford to take for granted; it is earned, and it is increasingly fragile. Years of scandals, sleaze and foreign money flooding into our politics have eroded that trust, and we must act to restore it. My new clauses are designed to restore transparency to our democracy, and to restore that trust. New clause 2 would ban anyone who is or has been a member of, or a politically appointed advisor to, a foreign Administration from donating to a political party, think-tank or campaigning body. If a person has served in a foreign state in a political capacity, they should not be able to use their personal wealth to shape British politics—that is the reason behind the new clause.”
“New clause 3 is about donations to political parties. If an organisation is proscribed—and it is still proscribed—it would fall under the scope of new clause 3, even if there are ongoing legal processes that have not yet concluded.”
“I am grateful to the hon. Member for giving me the opportunity to wade into such a thorny political issue—and an issue where it is important to stay on the right side of what can be said in discussing a proscribed organisation. The Government should use their powers of proscription proportionately, in all cases, and should be able to robustly back up their decision to proscribe an organisation with very clear evidence that is made public. I am on the record many times as saying that. The police and any authorities that we are asking to implement the law must do so according to the law as it is at the time. At the moment there is a live case where an organisation was proscribed and there are relevant court cases. The hon. Member is absolutely right to highlight that. Over the weekend, arrests were made in relation to that proscription.”
“If, however, someone is guilty of a “prescribed offence relating to the promotion, incitement, or use of political violence”, I do not think that they should be able to financially support a political party. The promotion of an organisation is the same as supporting an organisation. There are ways of supporting organisations and causes that stay exactly the right side of the law. While I am not of the view that the Government have always used proscription rules proportionately in recent months, I do think that, if those rules exist, they should be able to be used in that way by those who are enforcing the law.”
“The arrests were made for support for a proscribed organisation via holding a placard that said the holder supports that organisation. I think we are talking about the same case. I understand the point that the hon. Member makes. Proscription of organisations is a tool that the Government rightly uses, although I have questioned the proportionality of the use of that tool. New clause 3 particularly mentions political violence; the hon. Member is talking about peaceful protest, if I understand her correctly. All hon. Members on this Committee, and everyone beyond it, should support the right for people to tell a Government that they think the Government have got it wrong. We should all support that and not make it harder for people to do it.”
“New clause 3 talks specifically about political violence. While we can sometimes agree with the message that opponents of our adversaries use, it is right that we are against political violence and those who promote political violence. I think that covers his question on new clause 3.”
“New clause 45 would mean that overseas individuals wishing to donate would need to hold funds or assets that may be taxed in the UK, sufficient to cover the cost of their donation. That broadly mirrors the Government’s proposals for corporations to have generated sufficient UK-based revenue. On new clause 51, the Joint Committee’s report also highlighted the resourcing challenges faced by the Electoral Commission and law enforcement bodies such as the National Crime Agency, and noted that legislative changes will be effective only if there is adequate resourcing to enforce the rules. New clause 51 would require the Electoral Commission and the National Crime Agency to report annually on the risks of foreign interference in the UK’s political finance system and the adequacy of systems in place to address those risks.”
“That is not a blanket ban on media appearances—heaven forbid—it is a prohibition on financial relationships with broadcasters acting as foreign propaganda arms. Moving on to new clauses 45 and 51 proposed by the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington (Matt Western), the Joint Committee that he chairs noted potential risks around permissible donors being used as “conduits” to channel foreign money into UK politics. It further noted a discrepancy between corporations needing to have a UK connection—for example, generating enough revenue in the UK to cover their donation—and individuals, for whom there were apparently fewer such requirements. The report considered various options, balancing security interests against the risk of creating chilling effects.”
“It requires parties not simply to accept or reject donations, but to demonstrate annually that they have actively assessed and mitigated the risks of foreign money entering their finances through UK-registered vehicles. Foreign-owned UK entities are a known vector for influence. The public record of recent years—Russian money, oligarch links and opaque corporate structures—makes that plain. An independent annual audit is a proportionate and practical response. New clause 17 is about prohibiting politicians from receiving payment from proscribed state broadcasters. State-controlled broadcasters have been used as instruments of foreign influence, disinformation and political interference for decades. It would be extraordinary to allow individuals seeking or holding elected office to receive financial benefit from those very organisations.”
“Real-time disclosure of donations in a publicly searchable database of all online political ads and spending are commitments we have held for years. New clause 15 is entirely consistent with that agenda. There have been other amendments and proposals from other Members that have touched on some of those issues, which we also support. New clause 16 would require the treasurer of each registered political party to prepare an annual statement setting out the steps taken to mitigate risks relating to donations originating from a foreign nation, to be delivered to the Electoral Commission alongside the party’s statement of accounts. We have heard a great deal throughout this Committee about the importance of transparency, and we agree. This new clause makes transparency operational.”
“I would have thought those are politically appointed, rather than on a civil service basis. However, there are people who are not political appointments who would not fall within new clause 2, so they could continue to operate both as an envoy or an ambassador in that informal business ambassadorial role and continue to donate. I do not think that is covered under new clause 2 as it is currently written. Returning to new clause 3, the principle that our democratic institutions must command public confidence, and that those who seek to undermine them should face serious consequences, is one that we hold firmly. On new clause 15, voters have a right to know who is financing the people seeking their vote. That is a basic condition of democratic accountability.”
“We should all be against political violence. People who propose and promote political violence should not be permitted to donate to political parties in the UK. I am thinking about people who have various convictions in the UK for promoting political violence and about people who own tech platforms but are based on the west coast of the United States and have spoken at rallies that promote political violence. We should not be welcoming their interference in our politics and new clause 3 seeks to stop them from doing so. On new clause 2, the hon. Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner talked about people who have been politically appointed to be an adviser for a foreign Administration, whether in a business ambassadorial or trade envoy role, and I see his point.”
“I listened closely to what the Minister said, and I understand the thrust of her view that existing rules would cover the conduct that we are seeking to avoid. Will the Minister think of the specific case of Elon Musk, the owner of X? He spoke at a rally via video link and incited violence. He has also talked, at separate times, about donating to a UK political party. UK companies are part of his group; there would be a way for him to channel funding through a UK company. Will the Minister let me know what I am missing that would stop Elon Musk doing that?”
“That guidance could include measures regarding the donor’s identity and location, the original source of funds and maximum limits on the amount of crypto that may be donated. It is also worth mentioning that, as we have seen in the press in the last couple of weeks, a leader of a UK political party has been promoting the use of cryptoassets and has gained financially from doing so. We should all spend a moment to reflect on why somebody would want to do that, particularly when cryptoassets are not risk-free. Promoting their use, and the use of gold bars as an investment tool, should be beyond what is acceptable for an elected Member of this House. I encourage anybody, particularly people who purport to lead a political party in this country, to really think about the impact of their actions, particularly when it is for financial gain.”
“We see no democratic imperative to permit the use of crypto in political finance until adequate safeguards are in place.” Crypto also poses wider upstream risks to the integrity of political finance, with the Committee report going on to say that “donors can convert ‘dirty’ foreign crypto funds into ‘clean’ UK fiat and then donate it without arousing much suspicion. A ‘last mile’ ban on crypto donations is therefore not a panacea. Specialist capabilities to address upstream risks are underpowered and require further work.” New clause 12 therefore calls for an immediate moratorium on crypto donations until the Electoral Commission produces statutory guidance, which should be made using the affirmative procedure to ensure that Parliament has the opportunity to review its adequacy before it is accepted.”
“Member for Warwick and Leamington, the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy examined the merits and risks of allowing crypto donations, noting that benefits include the potential for greater transparency in some cases, and for regulations to gradually institutionalise alternative forms of payments. However, the Committee concluded: “Crypto donations pose an unnecessary and unacceptably high risk to the integrity of the political finance system and public trust in it. We accept that future regulations may institutionalise the use of alternative payment systems for use in donations. At present, however, the opportunity to evade rules is too high, the adequacy of mitigations too low, and the resource cost of attempting to implement acceptable oversight is disproportionate.”
“The difficulty in tracing the ultimate ownership of cryptoassets, the proliferation of different kinds of cryptoassets and the advent of AI-assisted technologies that can break cryptoassets into small amounts, below any threshold at which donations may have to be declared, create serious risks for political finance transparency. There is also a real risk of cryptoassets being used as a vehicle to channel foreign money into the UK political system, and neither the Electoral Commission nor political parties currently have the capability and expertise to manage that risk adequately. New clause 20 would require parties to declare the cryptoasset donations that they have received in the past. Given the clear issues with crypto donations, the public should surely expect transparency on them. On new clause 12, tabled by the hon.”
“Future Government amendments will be tabled at a later, as of yet unspecified date. I believe that the Minister is working with officials on the issue, but this Committee is where we can talk about the Bill on a cross-party basis. The Rycroft review recommended that a moratorium be placed on political donations made in cryptoassets. The Government responded to the review on the date of its publication, but, although other amendments to the Bill have been tabled, there has not yet been a clear indication of how quickly that recommendation will be integrated into it. The Liberal Democrats look forward to getting some further detail, dates and quick action, but we also want the measures introduced in this Bill to be effective in the long term. Cryptoassets are extremely difficult to trace.”
“I am happy to be speaking in support of new clause 4, and in favour of new clauses 12 and 20. New clause 20, which is in my name, would require parties to declare cryptoasset donations that they have received in the past. I agree with pretty much everything that the hon. Member for North Herefordshire said, and I note my earlier comments about the sticky wicket on which the Minister is being asked to play. The Government’s statement on the publication of the Rycroft review was a rare moment in which they nailed both the timing and politics of an issue, and it was absolutely right to ban crypto from that day to stop any further gaming of the system. However, I completely agree with the hon. Member that this Committee is the place to have a conversation about what that will look like.”
“As the hon. Gentleman is mentioning other parties and as I represent one of those other parties, it is only appropriate that I stand up and agree with him wholeheartedly. Everybody in the Chamber and beyond wants us to get this issue right. It is not a party political point. As the hon. Gentleman is, I and we are ready to work cross-party to get it right. If that means us doing some extra work between the various stages of the Bill, I would be completely content to be part of that.”
“I thank the hon. Member for North Herefordshire for her comments. We have seen this over the last couple of elections in ’19 and ’24, and we are going to see it again in local and national elections: our regulatory framework is not keeping pace. As far as I am aware, there is no electoral framework—I would love to hear from the Minister on this—for anyone to systematically map the risks posed by deepfakes and associated online issues. Voters deserve to make free, informed choices, not tainted by some of the things that are seen online. I hope that the Government will take this forward.”
“Next week sees the funeral of my constituent Bob Humphrey-Taylor. Bob was a pillar of our community, and the driving force behind so many projects across Mellor and Marple, especially those with links to our industrial heritage. He was often dressed as the 18th-century industrialist Samuel Oldknow, and he was the owner of the most remarkable moustache I have ever seen out in the wild. He was a champion of our campaign to seek world heritage site status for our canals, our famous lock flight, and England’s highest aqueduct. May we have a debate in Government time, setting us up for the next round of world heritage site applications? That would be a fitting legacy for Bob and all those who have done so much in my community to celebrate our industrial heritage.”
“For example, a UK donor might receive £11,179 from a Russian source in connection with a planned donation but would, apparently, not need to declare that when making a £11,179 donation. The JCNSS noted the general principle that donations below £500 are largely outside the reporting scope of PPERA and would not need to be reported or recorded. A £500 threshold might therefore prove a more robust basis to guide the level at which money received in connection with a donation needs to be declared. The new clause would require any donation above £500 to be accompanied by a declaration on its source, and whether related gifts have been received. Transparency and consistency are both good things, of which there should be more.”
“The subsequent linked new clauses change the provisions of section 54A to address its shortcomings. Regarding new clause 48, the JCNSS heard evidence that law enforcement often faces prohibitively high thresholds for taking action on suspicions of wrongdoing, and that part of the problem is linked to the wording of the legislation, which requires law enforcement to prove that actors “knowingly” broke the rules. New clause 48 would lower the threshold and use wording in line with that of anti-money laundering regulations, whereby persons are liable if they have reasonable grounds to suspect that they are facilitating impermissible donations. Regarding new clause 49, the JCNSS questioned why it would be appropriate to have such a high threshold—£11,180—for making a declaration. It perceived a gap that could be exploited.”
“We Liberal Democrats welcome clauses 56 and 57, but the JCNSS did a huge amount of work looking at money and interference in our politics, and it has made some recommendations, which are manifested in the new clauses. The JCNSS welcomed the Government’s commitment to commence section 54A of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. That section was inserted in 2009 but never commenced. It covers requirements for donors to make a declaration about their donation, but the Committee found that the provisions need more work to adequately address concerns about donors acting as conduits for foreign money. New clause 47 would require the Government to commence section 54A of the 2000 Act within three months of the Bill being passed.”
“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Dr Allin-Khan. This discussion about part 4 feels slightly odd because we are having part of the conversation but will have a further conversation on Report, for all the good and understandable reasons that we have talked about, after the publication of the review by Sir Philip Rycroft. Many people truly welcome Sir Philip’s work and some of us were fortunate enough to take part in it, but we are discussing the measures under consideration while fully aware that we expect further movement from the Government. I will speak to the new clauses tabled in the name of the Chair of the Joint Committee on National Security Strategy, the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington (Matt Western).”
“Also, the low sentences reportedly limit the type of investigatory tools that law enforcement may use in an investigation. I am content to speak to the new clauses on behalf of the Member who tabled them, the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington.”
“I welcome the shadow Minister’s intervention, and I think that we should talk far more than we do about domestic money in politics, as well as foreign money in politics. Power is concentrated in far too few hands. The price of elections is going up and up, and that is not good for democracy. I would welcome that discussion. New clause 49 is in the name of the Chair of the JCNSS, so I am speaking to it on his behalf. We are talking about £500 during the course of a calendar year, so £50 a month breaches the threshold. I think there is a conversation to be had. As I say, this new clause is not in my name. On new clause 50, the Committee heard evidence that the current 12-month prison sentence was not an adequate deterrent.”
“She has not been dealt an easy hand, but I would appreciate hearing about her planned timetable for issuing further amendments. I am sure that the Minister agrees about the scale and immediacy of the threat that some of the amendments seek to address, including foreign interference in our elections and democracy. Urgency on those actions is needed. It is important to get these measures in place as soon as possible, but they really should be the right measures. I would welcome hearing from the Minister about when she plans to bring forward further information, and I am sure that we all look forward to scrutinising that in due course.”
“The Government have a ready vehicle for it in front of them, so the Committee would welcome an explanation of why that is. Can the Minister set out a planned timetable of future actions, including a firm commitment on when a cryptocurrency amendment will appear? The shadow Minister talked fairly about how this process is running in parallel, making it quite difficult to understand what is ahead of us. The Government are working on a response to the Rycroft review in full, and there are measures in the Bill that they will be keen to ensure are implemented in time for the next general election, including votes at 16 and automatic voter registration. Those will take time to implement, so I understand that the Minister is playing a reasonably sticky wicket, trying to go at pace but in a thorough and considered manner.”
“We Liberal Democrats support greater scrutiny of the sources of political money. We will not oppose any of these amendments, whether from the Government or His Majesty’s Opposition, but we want to raise some issues because we believe that they could have gone further. The amendments were tabled, as has been mentioned, following the publication of the Rycroft review, but revisions around cryptocurrency donations are not included in them. In a welcome statement to the House, the Secretary of State talked specifically about banning crypto donations, but there is no mention of that in the Bill. The Government accepted Sir Philip’s recommendation on the day that it was published, so why is there nothing about that in this group of amendments?”
“I beg to move amendment 34, in clause 60, page 72, line 36, at end insert— “(c) the person has nominated a director or partner who is to be personally responsible for ensuring the donation is made in accordance with the requirements of this Part.” This amendment provides that for donors from corporate bodies to be permissible they must nominate a director or partner who is responsible for compliance with the legal requirements relating to donations.”
“The Committee concluded that this unlimited limit is the wrong policy choice and a major issue with the Bill’s drafting. It seeks to fix that loophole with the amendments.”
“The National Crime Agency said that the use of many investigatory tools is curtailed by the fact that sentences are only 12 months. On amendments 36 and 37, the JCNSS report highlighted a potential Bill loophole relating to corporate donation limits. The Committee supported the Government’s proposal of limiting donations in line with the amount of revenue generated in the UK, but the report highlighted assessments from the Electoral Commission that the upper limit appears to apply to the individual recipients of donations, rather than to the individual company. That suggests that a company could donate its upper limit to a political party and then donate the upper limit hundreds of times over to individual MPs and regulated entities—for example, candidates.”
“Amendment 34 would ensure that corporate donors must nominate a director or partner who would be responsible for complying with the legal requirements. Otherwise, the JCNSS fears that there is a risk of inadequate deterrence if accountability can be attributed to a complex corporate structure. The amendment would help to enable the Electoral Commission and law enforcement to hold specific individuals to account for wrongdoing. Amendment 35 is a linked amendment, and specifies that the responsible director or partner would be criminally liable for breaching political finance rules. To ensure appropriate deterrence, it would raise the penalties from 12 months to three years in prison. Those higher sentences would also enable law enforcement to make use of more extensive investigatory powers when examining potential wrongdoing.”
“Before I speak to the amendments, I should say that I welcome clause 60, but I do not support new clauses 13, 32 or 52. The overall thrust of these provisions is that the UK is one of the only countries that still allows donations by companies, and I would be interested to hear from the Minister whether she and her colleagues gave any consideration to putting a stop to that altogether. Amendments 34 to 37 are, again, in the name of the Chair of the JCNSS, the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington. The Committee’s report identified a need for tighter rules on corporate donations. That includes ensuring that proportionate civil and criminal sanctions can be targeted at those who deliberately engage in wrongdoing.”
“We have had a good discussion of the amendments that I spoke to on behalf of the Chair of the JCNSS, the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington. I do not feel a desire in the room to move to a Division, so I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Clause 60 ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clause 61 Forfeiture of certain donations to registered parties etc Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.”
“This is the time for us to protect our election integrity in the digital age, and I hope that the Government accept new clause 18 and take the opportunity before it is too late.”
“Existing systems can be used to show voters completely fabricated content; some recent examples of AI-generated content that is damaging in different ways have already been mentioned. Transparency is the foundation of democratic legitimacy, and new clause 18 seeks to protect that foundation. On deepfakes, we are deeply concerned about the increase in AI-generated material that is produced to harm individuals and our broader democracy. We should be ensuring that there is transparency and accountability within political campaigning, and we need to limit the level of mis and disinformation that could be spread through AI-generated material. Requiring that political campaign material be properly labelled when it includes AI material feels like a sensible and moderate step.”
“I would like to test the mood of the Committee by pushing new clause 18 to a Division. We need to see action on these issues ahead of the next general election, and it feels like this piece of legislation is the opportunity to do that. We have talked repeatedly in this Committee about trust in our electoral processes being already very fragile—too fragile. We have seen years of scandal—of varying sorts—tarnish our political structures. Confidence in our politics and democratic processes is vital, and we should be doing everything that we can to bolster that confidence, which is too low. We should not be allowing new systems to be adopted in these structures and used to undermine our politics.”
“I will not repeat what has just been said, but a number of the new clauses overlap slightly, in trying to fill in the gaps that quite a few of us feel are present in the Bill as drafted. The hon. Member for North Herefordshire and I are pleased to be co-vice chairs of the all-party parliamentary group for fair elections, which is the leading organisation within Parliament campaigning for reforming the electoral system—of which there is no mention in the Bill. We spent some time today discussing some measures around getting dark money out of politics, and we hope that the Government move further on that. We look forward to the Minister introducing the Government’s response to the Rycroft review, and also to stopping mis and disinformation in our politics.”
“I support clauses 63 and 64, and I warmly welcome the comments from my colleague, the hon. Member for North Herefordshire, on new clauses 10, 24, 25, 27 and 28, tabled in the name of the hon. Member for Milton Keynes Central. A number of us who have been concerned with the issues that we are talking about today and which the Bill seeks to address were very pleased to see some of the measures that the Government put in the first draft of the Bill. But we were disappointed by what was not there: the lack of discussion of regulated periods, generative AI deepfakes, and mis and disinformation felt like a missed opportunity. On Second Reading, the Secretary of State spoke of the need to ensure that regulation keeps up with digital reality, and this legislation feels like the opportunity to address some of those issues.”
“Does he agree that spending limits for local candidates should probably go up a little but spending limits for national parties should come down significantly because, after all, people put a cross in a box next to an individual’s name, not just a political party?”
“I am genuinely intrigued in several ways by the shadow Minister’s contribution. He talks about a level playing field. Most of us would always agree with a level playing field, in pretty much all circumstances. Does he think that the national spending limits for the larger political parties should be brought down significantly? He expressed real concern about smaller parties, whether localist parties or groups of independents, that do not have a national political machine with a multimillion-pound budget at a general election. If I understand correctly what the shadow Minister says, he would not see that as a level playing field.”
“The Speaker’s Commission earlier called for electoral law review, including addressing the disinformation that can fuel abuse and intimidation, and a number of people involved in the democracy sector and the implementation of the enforcement of electoral law would welcome looking at a review of all the many Representation of the People Acts that have taken place over time, so that we can look at where they complement one another and where, on occasion, they do less than that. The last point to make is that if platforms can micro-target voters in real time, surely the regulator must be able to obtain basic information in real time. On that note, I commend new clauses 46 and 53 to the Committee.”
“The Committee on Standards in Public Life’s 2021 review recommended extending the commission’s powers to compel document information and explanation outside an investigation. Election-related harms are increasingly amplified online. The Electoral Commission evidence to the Speaker’s Conference explicitly links disinformation and platform algorithms to harassment and intimidation, and it describes concrete candidate harms, including deterrence and avoidance.”
“The Rycroft review, which has been mentioned many times today, states that the Electoral Commission, unlike the other regulators, cannot demand information outside a formal investigation, meaning that it cannot work in real time to head off offences. The review recommends extending powers so that the commission can require information from relevant bodies and persons. By comparison, the Charity Commission has the option of a regulatory inquiry, which gives information-obtaining powers without the necessity of enacting a lengthy statutory inquiry. The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy report, describing the Catch-22, recommends powers for the Electoral Commission to compel information, deployable in appropriate cases outside formal investigations.”
“However, the report emphasised that the Electoral Commission can impose fines only if it can prove an offence has occurred in the first place. The fact that it often cannot do so is precisely the problem and underpins the need for stronger information-gathering powers. New clause 46 would increase the commission’s powers to require financial institutions to provide it with information in relation to the permissibility of donations. New clause 53 is complementary to new clause 46. It would enable the Electoral Commission to require information before launching a formal investigation. When I met the commission’s chief executive with my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford, who tabled the new clause, we talked about exactly that issue.”
“Member for Warwick and Leamington (Matt Western), has drawn attention to Electoral Commission comments about a Catch-22 in its powers to investigate suspicious transactions: “Despite our statutory duty to monitor and take all reasonable steps to ensure compliance…we currently have no ability to obtain any information from financial institutions that we can use to monitor and independently verify provenance or the permissibility of funds, unless we open a full investigation. This is a weakness: to open such an investigation needs clear evidence—but we can’t always obtain that in the first place.” The Government said that they would keep the Electoral Commission’s powers under review, and noted that they were increasing planning powers per offence to provide a greater deterrent.”
“I should start by reminding the Committee that I am a member of the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, so I have been a part of some of the discussions the Minister mentioned. I also met the chief exec of the Electoral Commission to talk about what is in the Bill, what the Electoral Commission welcomed and worked with officials on, and what it would have liked to have seen more on. That was a useful and productive meeting. The commission made some public comments, and I cannot remember the exact wording used, but it was underwhelmed at some elements, I think. I am particularly keen to speak to new clause 46 and new clause 53, which is in the name of my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford. New clause 46, in the name of the hon.”