Committee (5th Day)

Part of Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill – in the House of Lords at 6:30 pm on 15 December 2010.

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Photo of Lord Lipsey Lord Lipsey Labour 6:30, 15 December 2010

My Lords, this is not the greatest matter before us, but it is an important one and I support the amendment. If there is one rule that one learns in life, it is that making two people responsible for something is a recipe for it not getting done properly. There is not one person to blame or to take the lead and it leads to confusion and non-action. That is my first point. My second point relates to precisely the other side of the coin of the argument put by my noble friend Lord Bach; namely, the present occupants of this position. On the one hand you have the Justice Secretary, who is a passionate supporter of first past the post. On the other hand, you have the Deputy Prime Minister, the Lord President, who is a passionate supporter of AV. They have come together in this coalition and that is simply a fact.

But honestly, there is scope here for mischief-making-and I used to be a journalist. There could be real mischief: for example, the Justice Secretary waits until the Lord President of the Council has gone off for the weekend to make some amendment or order under the Bill to suit his book. More likely, there will be journalistic mischief-making, where the fact that these two gentlemen agree on the Bill when they do not agree on the subject of it is elevated and makes a good diary paragraph. I am sure this Government's backs are extraordinarily broad. They probably do not read the newspapers at all, and are not the least interested in the gossipy things that I suspect might arise from this, but it does seem a completely pointless goal to leave without a goal-keeper, so that anybody can have a pot-shot at it.