Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chloe Smith and Iain McKenzie

Tuesday 4th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Miss Smith]

Mr Speaker, I do not think you would want me to go into the details of the particular case to which my hon. Friend refers. It is important to draw from that, however, that the public expect us to act, that we have said for quite some time that we shall be doing this and that we are bringing forward the details from now onwards. I think that a number of factors might have gone into the events that we saw unfold over the weekend, and it is important to take a wider look at some of them.

[Mr Iain McKenzie (Inverclyde) (Lab)]

13. Why are the Government conflating the issues of regulating lobbyists with those of party funding, when previously no links whatever were made between them? Is this a shoddy tactic of the Prime Minister and the Government to get them out of a hole, given that they have done nothing about regulating lobbying before now?

[Miss Smith]

As I think I have made clear, this is about third parties more generally, and it is right to understand how third parties can influence the political process in general. It is something in which the general public will take a great interest.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chloe Smith and Iain McKenzie

Tuesday 8th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Iain McKenzie (Inverclyde) (Lab)]

4. What his policy is on the review of parliamentary constituency boundaries.

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Miss Chloe Smith)]

The boundary commissions are continuing with the boundary review in accordance with the legislation that requires them to report before October 2013.

[Miss Smith]

I think that the parties within the Government have made their positions clear on the matter. As the Prime Minister said yesterday, there will be a vote, it will take place, and I suppose that is that.

[Mr McKenzie]

Does the Minister believe that it is right to redraw parliamentary boundaries on the basis of data from which millions of eligible voters are missing?

[Miss Smith]

It is the Government’s intention to proceed with the individual electoral registration programme, which will increase and improve the accuracy of the registers we work with. It is really important that we all continue with the support that there is across the House for those proposals.