Clause 3 - Pilot schemes under the 2000 Act
European Parliamentary and Local Elections (Pilots) Bill
11:15 am
Mr Nick Hawkins (Surrey Heath, Conservative)
I shall be brief as I anticipate that the hon. Member for Mid-Dorset and North Poole will also speak. The amendment tabled by the Liberal Democrats was, inevitably, not selected because it sought to delete the whole of clause 3—in effect, a stand part debate. I also want to be brief when I think of what the hon. Member for Chorley (Mr. Hoyle) will say if it turns out that the north-west of England is not selected as a pilot area.
The Opposition suspect that the Secretary of State will announce that the three pilot areas will be the north-west, the north-east and Scotland, because those are the areas that Labour Back Benchers are so keen on. That suspicion might be unfounded, but given that Labour Back Benchers such as the hon. Member for Chorley were so passionate on Second Reading, as they are now in Committee, about how incredibly well the postal pilots worked in places such as Chorley, I can only anticipate how mortified they will be if it turns out that because of this clause an area used for a postal pilot before cannot be used for a postal pilot next time if it is not in one of the given regions.