European Union Referendum: Young Voters

Lord Roberts of Llandudno Excerpts

Thursday 26th May 2016 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure that every eligible young voter is registered to vote ahead of the deadline for the European Union referendum on 7 June.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno (LD)]

My Lords, as honorary president of the youth democracy charity Bite The Ballot, I am delighted to have the opportunity given to me by this short debate to urge the electoral registration of the largest number of people, especially young people, so that they can vote in the European Union referendum on June 23. Young people are least likely to be registered to vote, and then least likely to turn out. At last year’s general election only 43% of those between 18 and 24 voted, compared with 78% of the over 65s.

I am told that up to 4 million young people have yet to register. Their voices must not be allowed to be silent. Not only will the future of Europe rest on these votes but, when elections take place in the United Kingdom, those who are not registered and are not able to cast a vote will be allowing themselves to go unheard. They will have no influence on our health service, our schools and colleges, our environment, the houses we need to build or the future of our steel industry: no registration, no vote, no influence.

We salute the campaign of a century ago that enabled womenfolk to vote. I also remember well, in my time, when in 1994 all people in South Africa, whatever their colour, were allowed to take their place in a queue to vote. There is a television clip that I remember clearly: people in Soweto waited for 12 hours in order to cast their vote, and the queue was a mile long. A TV interviewer spoke to one elderly lady in the queue who was just five minutes too late and had found herself unable to vote, so she would have to stay overnight and vote the following day. The interviewer asked her if she was not perplexed about this. She said, “Not really. I have waited a lifetime. What is one more night?”. I read only this morning Nelson Mandela’s remark on that day in April 1994:

“Today is a day like no other before it. Voting in our first free and fair election has begun … Today marks the dawn of our freedom”.

I love the phrase,

“the dawn of our freedom”.

The vote that will give people the power to decide the outcome of the referendum is the most important decision of their lifetimes—especially those of young people. Within the European Union they will be able to direct the future of climate change and tackle questions of war, peace, prosperity, refugees and much else. We have only a few days before the referendum will take place. The vote will affect every one of us, but it will affect young people for even longer because they are younger. It will affect their entire lives, so the turnout of students and young people will be vital.

Of course, in a referendum every vote counts. As one of the many organisations working to register voters, Bite The Ballot hopes to register 5 million—no, sorry, that would be ambitious—500,000 new voters in the next few days, and is co-ordinating a week-long campaign to raise awareness about the EU referendum and the consequences of an in or out vote. It is trying to mobilise unrepresented youth groups to register to vote—the 4 million people who are not registered at the moment. As part of an eight-day campaign between 31 May and 7 June, certain groups of society will be targeted on certain days. There will be different themes. One day will be dedicated to faith groups, with calls to action to community faith leaders to encourage congregations to register. Another will be dedicated to students, encouraging them to register a friend or apply for a postal vote—and I am sure that social media will be much in evidence.

We have two weeks. The deadline is 7 June for people who want to register to vote, and we want to register the largest number possible. I know that the Minister agrees with everything I have said and will do everything in his power to ensure that the highest number of people are enabled to vote. I will quote again for them:

“Voting in our first free and fair election has begun”.

For them, 7 June—or, you might say, 23 June—will mark the dawn of a new freedom.

Queen’s Speech

Lord Roberts of Llandudno Excerpts

Tuesday 24th May 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno (LD)]

My Lords, 24 May is a special day for Methodists—I am sure that I am not the only Methodist in this House—as it is the day of Wesley’s conversion. He wrote in his journal:

“In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street … About a quarter before nine”—

I am sorry, I am 15 minutes late—

“I felt my heart strangely warmed.”

This is an anniversary of a heart being strangely warmed. We want hearts warmed, but in a different way. We want hearts warmed in their concern for those who are most vulnerable, for the refugee and the asylum seeker.

The Government are often dragged reluctantly to that responsibility. We see so many people who are in desperate need, and yet time and again, as when trying to get those 3,000 children accepted into the United Kingdom, we struggle. We think of the people who are being bombed in Aleppo and Damascus. We think of those whose lives are absolutely different from ours in Asia and Africa. We think of the 3,000 victims who have already been drowned as they tried to cross the Mediterranean Sea to a better life. We think of all these people. It takes a great deal of courage to hold on to the undercarriage of a wagon or a train. It is desperate. It is not about coming here for a better life in order to make a lot of money; it is, for so many people, about life itself.

I urge the Government to look at their whole attitude. They say, and we have heard it many times, that we have given £2 billion to help the emergency relief in Syria. I am so grateful for that: it has saved so many lives and done so much good. We thank the Government for that, but we need not only money but a personal link with people in desperate need: children who have never had a hug, people who do not know what a home of their own is. I thank the charities, the big ones such as the Red Cross and Save the Children and the smaller ones, such as Calais Action, and the many individuals who give their time to cross over to try to extend a helping hand to those in camps in Calais and Dunkirk and on some of the Mediterranean islands. Those people deserve our thanks.

Thousands of refugees, hundreds of children, have already suffered more than one winter in northern France. We are now promised that the children who are to be accepted will be here before Christmas. There is seven months to go. The promise is that they may be here in seven months. Surely we can do better than that.

I was reading about the evacuees who came from the cities in 1939; many of them came to the Welsh countryside. In four days, 3 million people were evacuated. Surely, if we could do it in 1939, we can do it today. It is not lack of facilities, it is lack of political will. That is what we need to put in the heart of this Government: political will to devise an all-European strategy to meet the needs not only of the immigrants and refugees who so need our help today, but those who will come in future.

Global migration is a problem that we need to tackle now. Climate change, conflict, greed and corruption are all very evident and will become more so. In the years ahead, our children will have to tackle them, and we need to give them the guidance now on how to do that more effectively than we have in the past.

I always dreamt of a country that could be the lead, the heart of a concerned world. Is Britain that country? Can we do it? Do we have the courage, vision and compassion to lead in the move to tackle global migration that will be far worse than anything we know at present? Can the Minister say a word of encouragement that Britain itself is ready to go out of its way to bring hope to so many of those people?

Voting: UK Overseas Citizens

Lord Roberts of Llandudno Excerpts

Monday 6th July 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bridges of Headley]

My Lords, my noble friend is quite right; he marked my work some 23 years ago. It was quite a daunting experience then, so I do not look forward to his marking of this answer. I cannot go much further than the Answer that I gave. All I will say is that I entirely share his sentiment that Britons abroad do, indeed, retain strong links with this country through family and friends. Many others remain fully up-to-date on British affairs thanks to today’s modern communications. I pay tribute to the work that my noble friend has done, along with many other noble Lords such as my noble friend Lord Norton and the noble Lord, Lord Tyler. The Government remain committed to fulfilling their commitment.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno (LD)]

My Lords, if Greece can arrange a referendum within a week, why is it going to take us two years—and even then be uncertain whether the commitment can be fulfilled?

[Lord Bridges of Headley]

I thank my noble friend the Minister for his advice. As he just said, we will be awaiting the dates of the referendum in due course.

Electoral Register

Lord Roberts of Llandudno Excerpts

Thursday 19th March 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Maxton, has also asked me this question on a number of occasions. We would be moving towards a different relationship between the citizen and the state. In Denmark, Finland and Germany, there is a national population register. If you are on a national population register, you are automatically also on a voting register. It is also used for welfare, taxation and a range of other questions. That takes us down the road towards national identification numbers and national identity cards. We will have to have that debate in the next Parliament. It is not the tradition in this country.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno (LD)]

My Lords, I congratulate the Minister on the backing he has given for organisations such as Bite the Ballot, of which I am the honorary president. I hope that the new voters exercise their vote on 7 May. After 7 May, it will be important to have a proper analysis of exactly what went wrong with individual registration as against the previous form. I am told that many constituencies have many fewer registered voters than in the past. Whichever Government are in office, will they urge the Electoral Commission to come to grips with this question very soon?

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, after the election, the Electoral Commission, which is an excellent organisation, will of course examine the successes and weaknesses of the transition to individual electoral registration. We have guaranteed that this will come back to Parliament—there will be a report to Parliament on how the transition to individual electoral registration has gone. I emphasise that this has not been a failure. Applications are still coming in. Two-thirds of applications since last June have been online. We are doing everything we can to ensure that more people who have not yet registered, or who are registered in the wrong place, register before 20 April.

Electoral Registration

Lord Roberts of Llandudno Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd March 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

I agree with the noble Lord that there are some very large questions about how much data the Government already have about people who are or are not registered and how much they are allowed by current law to pull those data together. I very much hope that, in the new Parliament, we shall debate actively what changes in the law we need for that. Moves towards compulsory registration and the sort of unique individual identifier that he suggests—a lighter form of ID card—may be coming, but that is something that we all need to discuss very carefully.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno (LD)]

Are the instruction and the training given to EROs of the more modern and imaginative type, as we have seen in relation to certain youth organisations in recent months?

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, I have to say from having met a number of EROs during the past three years that they are a subculture of their own. I think that some of them would jib a little at the thought that they were entirely modern. They are committed to their task, which they find increasingly difficult. Gated communities and rapid turnover of people in rented housing make their lives more difficult. The refusal of people to answer letters when they are canvassed and the difficulty of canvassing on a house-to-house basis are all problems that they face, but all the evidence that I have is that most EROs are doing their job extremely well.

Electoral Registration

Lord Roberts of Llandudno Excerpts

Wednesday 4th February 2015 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to support National Voter Registration Day.

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire (LD)]

My Lords, the Government welcome all initiatives to promote engagement and voter registration, particularly Bite the Ballot’s National Voter Registration Day, as well as the work of others such as the British Youth Council’s Make Your Mark and vInspired’s Swing the Vote. Among other government activities ahead of National Voter Registration Day, we announced today that organisations that work with people who are underrepresented on the electoral register, including students and other young people, and people from black and ethnic minorities, will share some £2.5 million of additional funding.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno (LD)]

My Lords, I cannot say how much I appreciate the Minister’s Answer and the moves we are making in this direction. We appreciate everything that is happening. I hope that this House will be enthusiastic about enrolling young people and giving support to all these voluntary organisations and to the youngsters who work day and night to try to get as many young people as possible registered. I hope that we will give them support, and with great enthusiasm. We thank those organisations—I am proud to be president of one of them—for all that they have done. They have earned their spurs at this moment.

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, it is up to all of us involved in politics and all parties to promote maximum registration between now and May. The Deputy Prime Minister went on “The Last Leg” late last Friday night—I think not a programme that most Members of this House watch, but very popular with young people. I will be talking at an event tonight with a group of young Explorer Scouts from Tower Hamlets to show our support for Scout and Scout leader work in encouraging people to vote with the Cabinet Office’s programme, Rock Enrol!

Hong Kong

Lord Roberts of Llandudno Excerpts

Tuesday 25th November 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, there are a number of states across east, south-east and southern Asia that have made successful transitions to democracy. There are others that have some way to go. We welcome the evidence in a range of Governments there of the rule of law, open elections and the transition from one head of Government to another, all of which are fundamental. These are principles to which good Governments and well run economies should adhere.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno (LD)]

My Lords, we must welcome the statement in the Wales Bill last week that the electoral registration officers in Wales—all 22 of them—are to encourage new ways of registering young voters. Can we ask whether this might also apply to all electoral registration officers throughout the United Kingdom?

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, I hesitate to suggest that Her Majesty’s Government should bring that to the attention of the Chinese Government. I accept the noble Lord’s point that all of us, in every way, including the many Members of this House who go out on school visits, should be doing our utmost to raise the level of interest of people of all ages in the democratic process.

Census 2021

Lord Roberts of Llandudno Excerpts

Wednesday 16th July 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, there is a great deal of discussion about how many questions to put on the census on each occasion because the more questions you put on, the less likely it is that everyone will fill them in completely. That discussion is well under way, but we do not have to decide that until we are a good deal closer to the next census.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno (LD)]

My Lords, with a multilingual Britain, will the forms be available online or offline so that everybody is able to fill them in and understand the full implications of their answers?

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, I do not have full information about how it will appear online, but I note the question about the many different languages. The administrative data include a very good indicator of the changing ethnic and linguistic composition of local authority areas. The best indicator about changing composition is the first language of children coming into reception class in primary school. That is a rolling indicator that the Government can use to supplement the census.

Cabinet Office: Efficiency and Reform Programme

Lord Roberts of Llandudno Excerpts

Tuesday 15th July 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, that is a very broad question. Having seen this process close up, I have been struck by the extent to which Whitehall is a confederal system in which departments have to some extent resisted control from the centre. One of my favourite projects in this efficiency and reform scheme has been to centralise the collection of waste paper and build a closed loop system, from which we now save some £4 million—a small amount, but all contributing from building a much more effective system for recycling paper within Whitehall.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno (LD)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that not every saving is praiseworthy? For instance, I read in the report that £250 million has been saved on Network Rail repairs. Is it not better that we look first before some savings are made to ensure that they do not undermine the traffic and do not undermine the safety of our railways?

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

Of course, as with taxation, there are a range of different objectives in what you are attempting to save. However, much of what the Efficiency and Reform Group has been doing is to apply the sort of careful consideration of how best to ensure that you make the best use of centralised and long-term contracts, as supermarkets do in their relationship with their suppliers. The creation of the Crown Commercial Service earlier this year and of the Major Projects Authority in April 2011 are very important factors in making Whitehall officials more competent and efficient in dealing with the commercial world.

National Voter Registration Day

Lord Roberts of Llandudno Excerpts

Tuesday 1st July 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, I am not entirely sure that I understand that. There are a number of problems with electoral registration. We have various categories of voters, including the substantial number of people in London who are citizens of the European Union but not of the UK. I have been very impressed by the sheer difficulty of getting access to some of the dwellings that are now behind gated communities, so we must spread our effort into them. Of course we are focusing on the vulnerable categories, with which we are well familiar.

[Lord Roberts of Llandudno (LD)]

My Lords, is the Minister aware that organisations such as Bite the Ballot, of which I am honorary president, can register an elector for 25p, while the figure for the Electoral Commission has gone up to £25 per individual registration? Can we somehow encourage more work in the voluntary organisations, which are going into schools already and doing things to this end, and can we as a Parliament say that we want the highest number of new youngsters possible on the register, even before the coming general election?

[Lord Wallace of Saltaire]

My Lords, we need a range of activities by a range of different organisations, including political parties, of course. We touched on citizenship education yesterday. The activities in schools—I hope that Peers and others will help in that by going into schools—are all part of the effort we need to make to engage young people in the registration process.