Clause 15
Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill
12:30 pm
David Hanson (Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office; Delyn, Labour)
Again, at the moment, the measure is framed so as to ensure that Irish citizens can donate to Northern Ireland political parties. We have banned foreign donations; we accept in the legislation that Irish citizens can donate to parties in the north, for historical reasons. I hope there is agreement with the Liberal Democrats. I say to the hon. Member for East Antrim that it may benefit Sinn Fein or the SDLP, but is he telling me that there is no single person in the population of the Republic of Ireland who may wish to donate to his party, the party of the hon. Member for North Down or the Alliance party in Northern Ireland? I cannot rule that out. It is perfectly legitimate for an individual resident—let us say someone in a border area of Northern Ireland, or an Irish citizen who believes in the Union—to donate to the party represented by the hon. Member for East Antrim for those reasons. There is no reason why that cannot be done.