Clause 21 - European Parliamentary election regulations
European Parliament (Representation) Bill
9:25 am
Mr William Cash (Stone, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 65, in
clause 21, page 10, line 34, after '(4A)', insert
'In respect only of Part 2 of the European Parliament (Representation) Act 2003 and subject to section 11 of that Act'.
The clause prescribes the arrangements for European parliamentary election regulations. The amendment would insert the provisions into proposed new subsection (4A), and raises issues to which I have already had cause to refer. It is analogous to the regulation-making powers and other such provisions in clause 16. Proposed new subsection (4A) inserts the power to make regulations into the European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002. It states:
''Without prejudice to the generality of the power under which they are made, regulations under this Act may:
(a) make different provision for different electoral regions and, in particular, for the part of the combined region which is in England and Wales and for Gibraltar;
(b) confer jurisdiction relating to any matter connected with the election of MEPs in the combined region on any court in the United Kingdom''.
It thus confers jurisdiction in relation to the United Kingdom, but it continues:
''(c) exclude any such matter from the jurisdiction of any court in Gibraltar''.
It goes without saying that the Gibraltarians will not be remotely pleased about that. We return to the old colonial, imperialistic attitude, which I find astonishing. I maintain the hope that, in the final stages of the Bill, we will have a proper explanation of why the Government treat the Gibraltarians in this fashion.
We must also bear in mind that the Gibraltarians were not shown a copy of the Bill before it was published. Courts in Gibraltar deal daily with all sorts of matters that relate to the Bill, yet they are regarded as inadequate, even suspect, if one takes an extreme view, and incapable of dealing with matters of this sort.
Mr. David Heath (Somerton and Frome) rose—