New Clause 1
Political Parties and Elections Bill
4:45 pm
Eleanor Laing (Shadow Minister, Justice; Epping Forest, Conservative)
I thank my hon. Friend for that very helpful point. I jocularly gave the example of myself bowing to the greater political wisdom of my father, but fortunately I agreed with him, so there was no difficulty for me, but what if there was a difficulty? What if there was a difficulty in a culture in which men say that women should not take part in affairs of the outside world? I know of many households in and around my constituency and in other parts of our country where women are expected to undertake the domestic duties and bring up children. I am not saying that they are necessarily badly treated, although sometimes that happens, but the men in the household will frequently say, “Voting is a matter that men undertake; women don’t need to do that.” That may happen; it may not happen. In many cultures, that attitude prevails. The point with new clause 1 is that it should not be possible. By carrying on without individual voter registration, the Government are potentially allowing it to happen.