Clause 13
Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill
11:15 am
Laurence Robertson (Shadow Minister, Northern Ireland; Tewkesbury, Conservative)
I am grateful to you, Mr. Taylor, for the opportunity to discuss this clause briefly. Under the legislation, donations to political parties in Northern Ireland from the Republic of Ireland will still be permitted. In no way do I want to make a party political point, but the concern is that donations from the Republic benefit certain political parties to the exclusion of others. The objective of much of our debate, and legislation that has been introduced through statutory instruments and primary legislation, is to normalise the situation between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I welcome the attempts to normalise and, where possible, make comparable the situation. Some of this legislation works towards that. One aspect that does not is the provision for donations to political parties in Northern Ireland to come from donors in the south.
There is a further complication. It is possible for people who live abroad—in America, for example—to make donations to political parties in Northern Ireland not necessarily directly, but through citizens of the Republic. That is a concern. I would have liked to limit the amount of time for which the provision exists, stating that from, let us say, 2010, such donations would no longer be acceptable.
The Government’s explanation for allowing donations from the south to be made to the north is that the two countries are inextricably linked, and one party at least is registered in both countries, so it is acceptable. However, if we are moving towards normalisation and equalisation, I do not think that it is acceptable for that situation to continue. Therefore, I am concerned that the Government seem to be prepared to let it carry on indefinitely, whereas I would have sought to end it—not necessarily today or tomorrow, but certainly by putting a three or four-year limit on the arrangement. I look forward to hearing other hon. Members comments, because I know that the issue is of concern to a number of parties in Northern Ireland, and to finding out what the Minister has to say about the situation.