EU Referendum: Voter Registration

Lord Tebbit Excerpts

Wednesday 8th June 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bridges of Headley]

We have continued to ensure that those who live overseas are fully aware of their rights regarding the referendum and registering to vote.

[Lord Tebbit (Con)]

My Lords, is it not clear, even to the Liberal Benches, that it is perfectly rational for any individual to leave his registration until something closely approaching the deadline? Of course, it is equally rational for the system to assume that most people will not be that silly, so what has been done now is correct. It is a proper response to a problem which could not reasonably have been foreseen. I am grateful to my noble friend for the action that he and his colleagues have taken.

[Lord Bridges of Headley]

I thank my noble friend for that. There was extensive testing of the website, but I remind your Lordships of the unprecedented demand which, as my noble friend said, we now need to remedy.