Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

Baroness Trumpington Excerpts

Wednesday 16th February 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Trimble]

I will make the point none the less, and I am glad that the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, has given me assistance in making it. I take the point with regard to voting rather than turnout, but we are getting into the same territory; and, as the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, said, it caused great resentment. Will noble Lords please consider whether this device, if it works as intended, will not also cause great resentment? I have strong views on AV and look forward to the campaign against it. I wish that we could get on with that instead of wasting our time on this matter.

[Baroness Trumpington]

Many of us, I believe, voted for the Government out of loyalty to the Government, and not for the matter on which we were voting in the last round. I have listened to all the arguments today and I am thoroughly convinced by the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, and by the speakers who have spoken. I fully intend, for the first time, to vote against my Government.

[Lord Falconer of Thoroton]

My Lords, we have had an absolutely scintillating debate on this issue. The issue for the House today is whether we should ask the other place to think again. I believe that that is an interaction of two issues: first, the extent to which we think it has been given adequate consideration already; and secondly, the importance of the issue. As for whether it has been given adequate consideration already, this proposal first emerged as a matter of debate a week ago last Monday, when the noble Lord moved his amendment and it was passed. It went to the other place yesterday. It was one of 104 amendments, of which more than 95 were not debated at all. This amendment was debated for 46 minutes. Of those 46 minutes, more than 30 were taken up by Mr Mark Harper speaking on the issue. I say in parenthesis that there may be times when Mr Mark Harper should emulate his near namesake Harpo Marx rather than Mr Mark Harper himself.

So Mr Mark Harper discussed it for more than 30 minutes, but in the course of his statements he misstated the effect of the amendment on a number of occasions. In relation to a vote in favour with a turnout of under 40 per cent, he said:

“So, even if the public had expressed a clear preference, it would not count”.—[Official Report, Commons, 15/2/11; col. 899.]

That was wrong. The same mistake was made this morning in the Times, which stated in its leader:

“In an attempt to derail the referendum on the alternative vote … system, Labour peers, led by Lord Rooker … and with the connivance of some Conservatives, have defeated the Government on an amendment stipulating that the result of the referendum should only be permitted if at least 40 per cent of the electorate turn out to vote”.

Again, that is wrong.

The position is that if less than 40 per cent of those entitled to turn out do so, it becomes an advisory referendum in exactly the same way. That deals with the critical issue: if there is a derisory turnout in favour of the alternative vote system, is it right that this country should then change its voting system, a voting system for which there would not be a majority in either House of Parliament? The legitimacy of a change of that importance must depend on getting more support for it than a normal change in the law, rather than less.

In my respectful submission to this House, it is pretty plain that this issue has not been properly considered either publicly or in the other place. It is pretty plain that it is a very important issue. It is pretty plain—and I pray in aid the very last speech we heard —that the argument in this House has been comprehensively won by those who support my noble friend Lord Rooker. In those circumstances, we on this side of the House will vote in favour of my noble friend's amendment.