Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why citizens of the Irish Republic resident in the UK were allowed to vote in the referendum on 23 June when passport holders from other EU countries resident in the UK were not.
Answered by Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen
The franchise for the EU referendum was based on the UK Parliamentary franchise and this was debated, voted on and agreed by Parliament. As the referendum was an issue of national significance Parliament concluded that the general election franchise was the right one to use. Irish citizens resident in the UK are entitled to vote in Parliamentary elections and so were able to vote in the referendum. Citizens of other EU countries resident in the UK are not eligible to vote in UK Parliamentary elections, with the exception of those from Cyprus and Malta which are also Commonwealth countries.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Office of National Statistics' statistical bulletin <i>Population Estimates for UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: mid-2015</i> published on 23 June was not subject to purdah before the EU referendum.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Bridges of Headley on 19 April (HL Deb, col 543) on government grant agreements, whether an academic research institution which is also a charity and is in receipt of government funding from research councils will be covered by the proposed anti-lobbying clauses expected to be introduced in grant agreements from 1 May.
Answered by Lord Bridges of Headley
As the Minister for the Cabinet Office the Rt Hon Matthew Hancock made clear on 27 April, we are committed to protecting taxpayers' money from being wasted on government lobbying government. We are pausing the implementation of this clause into grant agreements, pending a review of the representations made.