Clause 9 - Electoral Commission recommendation as to the electoral region to be combined with Gibraltar
European Parliament (Representation) Bill
10:00 am
Mr William Cash (Stone, Conservative)
The amendment's importance is reflected by the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome's rowing in with his own suggestions, which we can discuss when we move further forward.
Basically, clause 9 provides for the Electoral Commission's role in recommending the electoral region to be combined with Gibraltar. It states that before 1 September 2003, the Electoral Commission is obliged to
''consider which of the existing electoral regions . . . should be combined with Gibraltar''
and
''report its conclusions . . . to the Lord Chancellor.''
Those conclusions must include the existing region with which Gibraltar should be combined. It goes on to say:
''Before determining what recommendation to make'',
which would occur after the Electoral Commission has made its consideration of the existing electoral regions with which Gibraltar might or might not be suitable to combine,
''the Electoral Commission must consult''—
in other words it is under an obligation—
''the Governor and the Chief Minister of Gibraltar.''
That point was discussed on Second Reading.
There is a provision in the Bill—it appears in many Bills—that deals with the question of consultation. It means that due regard should be paid to the views of the person being consulted and that reasons should be given for the eventual decision. Having said that, that clause also states:
''The report required by this section must be published by the Electoral Commission and laid before Parliament by the Lord Chancellor.''
In that context, I have repeatedly stated that there should also be proper debate.
On the role of the Governor, I have suggested in my amendment that the word ''Governor'' should be deleted. That is because—this relates to elections, citizens' rights and so forth—the clause provides for the Governor to be consulted about the constituency
with which Gibraltar should be combined. I cannot think of a good reason why the Governor should be interested, as an unelected, appointed representative of the United Kingdom Government, in being consulted about whom the people of Gibraltar should be combined with. It might seem on the surface that, as he is the Governor of Gibraltar, it would be nice to keep him informed, but we should consider the democratic implications. The unelected Lord Chancellor, the unelected Electoral Commission, and now the unelected Governor are all taking the prime role in determining whether the people of Gibraltar should be joined with one constituency or another.
It does not take much imagination to realise that that is not a democratic way of going about things. I hesitate to mention that we have already discussed the gamut of concerns about the manner in which the order-making powers are being made and so on. I have also said that I believe that the report presented by the Electoral Commission should be debated by Parliament on a substantive motion. It is not difficult to appreciate that the suggestion that some of the other people should be excluded but the Governor himself should be included is extremely unfortunate.
In amendment No. 43, I propose that the leader of the Opposition in Gibraltar should be consulted, too. In a similar situation in the United Kingdom, we might expect the Leader of the Opposition to be consulted, albeit on Privy Council terms, in relation to a major change in the electoral system. Therefore, there is a powerful case for consulting not only the Chief Minister but the leader of the Opposition.
The hon. Member for Somerton and Frome goes further in amendment No. 7. He wants the House of Assembly in Gibraltar to be added,
''and representatives of political parties established in Gibraltar which it expects to seek registration under section 11(3).''
Clearly, it is for the hon. Gentleman to develop his argument and I shall be interested to hear what he says. However, consultation with the Parliament, although it is not a huge Parliament, is quite difficult. Unfortunately, its Members are not elected as such. They are elected, but not to perform what I believe is the role of the Chief Minister and the leader of the Opposition in this context, who have the main responsibility—I put it no higher than that—for considering such matters.
I do not believe that the Governor, being unelected, should be at the centre of the consultation process about the sensitive matter of Gibraltar's democracy. Nobody would doubt for a minute that he would not be informed about what was going on, but it is unnecessary to provide for formal consultation in the Bill. I imagine that he takes his instructions from the Government anyway, because that is the basis on which governors and governors-general operate. To say that they take their instructions from the Government is probably going too far because they operate on behalf of the Queen, who takes advice from her Government, which often means the same thing. I was involved in the dispute when the Americans invaded Grenada and, without going into great detail, I was asked by a certain body of people to give a constitutional opinion on whether the Governor-
General had exceeded his powers. The role can become controversial.