Clause 1 - Registration: provision of signature and date of birth
Electoral Fraud (Northern Ireland)
11:45 am
Mr Harry Barnes (North East Derbyshire, Labour)
A further problem has now been raised, which I had not thought of before: canvassing. Canvassing takes place widely in Northern Ireland. It is an activity that is engaged in almost universally. I would recommend that it should take place throughout Great Britain. However, if people are canvassing in order to get register details that are then checked by the returning officer, they will presumably, under the provisions, have to ask for national insurance numbers. Will it be possible or easy for people to search out their national insurance number when someone has knocked on the door? It is not an item that many people keep handy, but is something for which they will have to search through their records.
12 noon