Schedule 3
Political Parties and Elections Bill
Public Bill Committees, 20 November 2008, 1:15 pm
David Howarth (Shadow Solicitor General, Ministry of Justice; Cambridge, Liberal Democrat)
Earlier, the Minister talked about consensus being a necessary condition of reforming the area. I think he is wrong because it tends to give a veto to parties with a particular interest, and I think that that is another area where we might be suffering from that problem. I would like to put on record, however, that I support the amendment. Its intention seems to be extremely important and useful. Everyone knows that the unincorporated bodies to which we are referring are organisations such as the Midlands Industrial Council, which are devices to disguise the identities of donors. That is what they are invented to do and that is what they have been doing.