Lord Tyler: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Greenhalgh on 29 September (HL2635), what period the agreed full cost support for local authorities to implement the voter ID provisions in the Elections Bill will cover.
Lord Tyler: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to consult on measures to enhance the integrity of electoral processes.
Lord Tyler: My Lords, at the outset, I want to pay tribute from my own personal experience to Sir David Amess. He was a truly honourable Member, and I appreciate enormously his family’s call for more co-operation and working together. That is something I have tried to do throughout my 30 years in this Parliament. It is perhaps sad but necessary to start by taking note of the deterioration in the public...
Lord Tyler: My Lords, can the noble Lord the Chief Whip explain exactly what the procedure will be, as this Bill apparently is to go into Committee before it reaches this House for Second Reading? Can he elucidate on what would happen if the House does not give the Bill a Second Reading?
Lord Tyler: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the voter identification pilot schemes, what estimate they have made of the number of people who could be turned away from polling stations in a General Election.
Lord Tyler: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether returning officers will be required to retain data on the number of people who are turned away from polling stations because they do not have appropriate photographic voter ID and who (1) subsequently return with such ID, or (2) do not return to vote.
Lord Tyler: To ask Her Majesty's Government what upper limit will be set for the highest acceptable number of people turned away from polling stations because of a lack of appropriate photographic voter ID.
Lord Tyler: To ask Her Majesty's Government what work they are currently undertaking to prepare for the voter ID provisions in the Elections Bill (HC Bill 138).
Lord Tyler: To ask Her Majesty's Government what funding (1) they have provided, or (2) intend to provide, for (a) staff, and (b) resources, to (i) the Electoral Commission, and (ii) local authorities, to implement the voter ID provisions in the Elections Bill (HC Bill 138).
Lord Tyler: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the (1) costs, and (2) resource requirements, that will be needed to implement the voter ID provisions in the Elections Bill (HC Bill 138).
Lord Tyler: My Lords, our thanks are certainly due to the noble Lord, Lord Blunkett, not just for this very timely debate but for the comprehensive way in which he looked at so many aspects of the concerns that we are all now experiencing. We also owe a huge debt of gratitude to the noble Lord, Lord Evans, his current colleagues and his predecessors, some of them Members of your Lordships’ House, for...
Lord Tyler: My Lords, tempting as it is to dive straight into the minutiae of the committee’s report and the associated Motions, I will spend my allotted time on the wider issues facing your Lordships’ House. What is the context in which we are taking these decisions? There are two crucial issues we have to address before we get too absorbed in the detail. First, it is not good enough simply to...
Lord Tyler: My Lords, can the Minister explain why dedicated, public-spirited, widely respected people of high integrity should continue to serve on the House of Lords Appointments Commission, which is independent? The Prime Minister, Mr Johnson, seems determined to treat its recommendations with complete contempt.
Lord Tyler: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the report by the Committee on Standards in Public Life Standards Matter 2: Committee Findings, published on 14 June.
Lord Tyler: My Lords, the committee and its seven principles of public life are the moral compass for politics and government. This report shows how far the Johnson Administration are failing to meet these standards. Even Dominic Cummings now seems to agree with this. The Ministerial Code, ministerial interests, business and public appointments and lobbying rules are all identified in this report as...
Lord Tyler: My Lords, the Government have been spending large sums of taxpayers’ money trying to stop the courts establishing whether the so-called Covid contracts were awarded incompetently or corruptly. I make no comment on the legal proceedings, but whatever the merits of the case, this attempt at a cover-up is clearly in breach of the Ministerial Code, the Nolan principles, to which it refers, and...
Lord Tyler: My Lords, I strongly endorse the views of the noble Lords, Lord Young and Lord Hunt, and indeed those of the Lord Speaker. Is it not now obvious that Mr Johnson is seeking to deliberately damage the reputation of the House to reduce our influence? Will the Government now accept the recommendations of the Burns committee, and the view of the large majority of the House, and take the lead in...
Lord Tyler: My Lords, according to Mr Johnson, the public “don’t give a monkey’s” whether he and his party have cheated and broken electoral law, so did the election results last week bear him out? They did up to a point; 36% voted for his candidates and 64% did not. Taking turnout into account, he could claim about 15% of the eligible electorate. Trust is an essential ingredient in our...
