Clause 4 - Electoral identity card
Electoral Fraud (Northern Ireland) Bill
4:30 pm
Mr Lembit Öpik (Montgomeryshire, Liberal Democrat)
You will understand, Mr. Amess, if my speech this morning and my speech now seem rather disjointed, but there have been several hours in between.
I have only one point. For the reasons that we discussed earlier, a timetable is a form of insurance policy. Will the Minister accept in principle that the Government should revisit the issue? Even if they do not accept the timetable that I and the hon. Member for Reigate (Mr. Blunt) proposed, something specific, a backstop, should assure us that there will come a point, defined in legislation, after which it will not be acceptable to vote without photographic identification. Without that, the Minister risks undermining the effectiveness of the entire Bill.
The Minister may not have grasped that we are trying to help him. As things stand, there is no clear deadline, and he risks marching naked into the conference chamber with people who will do everything they can to prevent the measure from going through. I hope that the Minister will at least consider introducing a backstop. If not, we shall have to vote on it.
Question put, That the amendment be made:—
The Committee divided: Ayes 4, Noes 10.