Business of the House

Kris Hopkins Excerpts

Thursday 1st July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Heath]

I do not think that a debate would be worth while, because the OBR is independent of Government.

[Kris Hopkins (Keighley) (Con)]

May we have a debate on the use of postal votes in our electoral system? It has been proved to be open to corrupt practices, and it is compromising our democratic process.

[Mr Heath]

Concerns about the integrity of the postal vote process have been expressed for a long time. Postal votes form a useful part of our electoral arrangements, but nevertheless we must make sure that our electoral system has the highest possible integrity. The Government are committed to introducing the individual registration of voters, and that will go a long way towards dealing with some of the potential abuses of the current system. I hope that legislation will be introduced in due course that will enable the hon. Gentleman to make his points very forcefully.