Part of European Parliament (Representation) Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 10:15 am on 14 January 2003.
Yvette Cooper
Parliamentary Secretary (Lord Chancellor's Department)
10:15,
14 January 2003
I am happy to agree to the principles behind the amendments, but I will ask the hon. Member for Stone to withdraw the Amendment. I will explain the reasons for that request.
The Electoral Commission should consult widely, and has said that it intends to do so. It has a record of taking this sort of issue and the obligation to consult very seriously. I agree with Opposition Members that the Electoral Commission should consult Members of the House of Assembly, the political parties and the Leader of the Opposition in Gibraltar, or, as the hon. Member for Romford suggested, the leaders of the several Opposition parties. I am also persuaded that to list the Governor in the Bill as one of only two named consultees is inappropriate, and gives the wrong balance to the Bill.
Many of those points were raised with us by the Government of Gibraltar when our officials met Peter Caruana, the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, and his colleagues just before Christmas to discuss a number of issues affecting the Bill. One of the issues they raised was the reference to who should be consulted under Clause 9(2). The Chief Minister's view was that the Bill should refer to the Government of Gibraltar, and that it should not expressly refer to the Chief Minister or to
the Governor. We gave the Government of Gibraltar an undertaking that we would consider how their suggestions could be acted on. I am sympathetic to the points that they raised.
We intend to table further amendments on this matter at a later stage in the Bill. We said to the officials when we met them before Christmas that it would not be possible to prepare such amendments in time for the Committee stage, given the drafting requirements and the need for consideration. I am sympathetic to the principle of consulting Members of the House of Assembly and will also consider that issue. However, my one proviso is that we should not aim to compile an exhaustive list, because we will forget someone. The list in the Bill should be as narrow as possible, but we should make it clear during discussions in Committee and in the Chamber that we believe that political parties should be consulted, and that there should be a wide-ranging discussion.
I believe that the Electoral Commission will take that issue seriously and will want a wide-ranging consultation. There should be some reference in the Bill to provide the reassurance to the Government and people of Gibraltar that their views will be taken seriously, but we should avoid an exhaustive list.
Given those points and our intention to return to the matter at a later stage of the Bill's passage, I ask the hon. Member for Stone to withdraw his amendment.
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Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
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When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
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Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
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