Electoral Commission Investigation: Vote Leave Debate
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Amber Rudd
Main Page: Amber Rudd (Independent - Hastings and Rye)Department Debates - View all Amber Rudd's debates with the Cabinet Office
Electoral Commission Investigation: Vote Leave
Amber Rudd Excerpts(6 years, 3 months ago)
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Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye) (Con)
This matters. May I respectfully say to the Minister that she should not let the Government’s commitment to delivering on the referendum result obfuscate the real questions that are being raised? This has not come out of the blue; there has been a series of accusations and suggestions, in not only this campaign but others. The protection of the valid confidence that the public need to have in our elections every time is absolutely vital.
Chloe Smith
My right hon. Friend is right. We should all be in agreement that we should be seeking to protect confidence in our democracy. That is precisely the point. The point is that the regulator has carried out this investigation and we should be able to look at its report and understand what it says. That is today’s job in hand. After that, there may come things to which we need to return as a House, including various aspects of regulation, which would of course be a matter for Parliament. I made the point earlier that the extent of regulation that we apply to our democracy is quite great. It has been put together by Parliament over many decades. As my right hon. Friend says, this does all matter—absolutely. That is why we should all be prepared to look at the report and the other ongoing investigations and look at such things in the round.