David Linden: I take issue with the right hon. Gentleman quoting “the mother of Parliaments”, which is often misquoted in this place. He has put his point on the record; I know he is perhaps having quite a difficult week, so I am glad to have had the opportunity to let him do so. The SNP has no intention of being around Westminster when this tortuous project finally grinds to its long, eye-wateringly...
Tommy Sheppard: There are now less than two weeks until Parliament’s emergency procedures are reviewed. Will the Leader of the House share his insights as to what should happen next? Will he move forward, allowing people to participate equally by switching the e-voting system back on and allowing all Members to contribute to debates; or backwards, disenfranchising those who cannot be physically present?...
Tommy Sheppard: First, may we have a debate on how the fiscal framework within which the devolved national Administrations operate should be changed to improve their capacity to deal with the current pandemic and its aftermath? To date, the Scottish Government have spent more than £4 billion on covid-19. Most of it will be funded through Barnett consequentials, but several hundred million has had to be...
Caroline Lucas: To ask the Leader of the House, if he will make it his policy to utilise the e-voting system previously used by hon. Members during hybrid proceedings for the process of holding deferred divisions; what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the use of paper for deferred divisions on the transmission of covid-19; and if he will make a statement.
Mr Mark Ruskell: I will keep my comments on the bill relatively brief. However, as others have done, I thank the clerks and all those who gave evidence throughout the passage of the bill. I also thank the minister for his constructive attitude throughout the bill in discussing a variety of amendments that came through committee, and that have been debated in the Scottish Parliament today. This is, largely, a...
Mr Mark Ruskell: Thank you, Presiding Officer. I join other members in thanking the clerks, all those who gave evidence, and the other members of the committee for their consideration of the bill. The bill represents a baby step towards democratic reform, so I welcome its general principles. To be honest, however, it is hardly groundbreaking stuff. Even when taken together with the Scottish Elections...
Chris Elmore: The Minister will not be surprised that I do not share her enthusiasm for this new system. Will she look to what the Welsh Government are doing to expand the franchise and the inclusivity of voting, including consulting on e-voting? Will she consider that in future? If we are to make voting more accessible and expand the ways that people are able to vote, we need to learn from good practice....
Mary Glindon: It is an honour to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North East (Mr Sweeney), who has definitely made his mark with the excellent things he is already doing in the House. I congratulate the two new Members who have made their maiden speeches; I am sure that they will be excellent advocates for their constituents. As a member of the associate and retired members branch of the...
Stewart Stevenson: I start by drawing attention to my entry in the register of members’ interests—particularly my membership of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, which is promoting e-voting, and my membership of the Association for Computing Machinery, which is leading a debate on the subject in the USA, in particular. A professor of computer science at Stanford University, David Dill, who is...
Tulip Siddiq: Absolutely. The hon. Lady and I have had discussions about this matter, and we agree that Parliament needs to become more modern and that we need to encourage e-voting. Perhaps that will be next on the agenda. As I have mentioned, I had a lot of support from my constituency Labour party when I ran to be an MP. As I was a young woman, they thought that there was a chance I would have children....
Tulip Siddiq: I thank the hon. Lady for her speech. I have long argued for e-voting, because I believe that is the right way for us to go forward. Does she think it quite strange that the reason I was given for not introducing e-voting was that all Members need to be in the Chamber to listen to the debate—even though 650 Members of Parliament do not fit in the Chamber at the same time?
Lord Young of Cookham: The Government notes the recommendations in the WebRoots Democracy report. The Government is committed to building a modern democracy that works for everyone. The introduction of electronic voting (‘e-Voting’) would require very careful consideration. The selection of elected representatives for Parliament is regarded as requiring the highest possible level of integrity and, at present,...
Chris Skidmore: The Government does not intend to trial e-Voting for parish or town council elections. As I outlined to the Rt. Hon. Member for Easington in my previous answer to which he refers: the use of e-Voting raises a number of issues which would need to be considered carefully. At present, there are concerns felt by many, that e-Voting may not be suitably rigorous and secure, and could be vulnerable...
Chris Skidmore: The Government notes the recommendations in WebRoots Democracy report. This is an important issue that we take seriously. We are committed to supporting our servicemen and women in exercising their democratic rights and overcoming the barriers that might prevent them from voting. However, the introduction of electronic voting (‘e-Voting’) would raise a number of issues which would need to...
Chris Skidmore: The selection of elected representatives for Parliament is regarded as requiring the highest possible level of integrity. At present, there are concerns that e-Voting may not be suitably rigorous and secure and could be vulnerable to attack or fraud. The Conservative Party stated in its manifesto a commitment to paper voting. There are no plans to introduce proposals for online voting for...
Chris Skidmore: There are no plans to trial electronic voting. The selection of elected representatives for Parliament is regarded as requiring the highest possible level of integrity and, at present, there are concerns that e-Voting, by any means, is not seen by many to be suitably rigorous and secure, and could be vulnerable to attack or fraud. The Government has stated in its manifesto that it will retain...
Lord Young of Cookham: The Government notes the recommendations in WebRoots Democracy report. The Government is committed to building a modern democracy that works for everyone. All voters have the right to vote independently and in secret. To assist blind and visually impaired voters, Returning Officers must ensure each polling station is equipped with a tactile voting device which fixes over the ballot paper and...
Chris Skidmore: I have read the six recommendations in The Institute for Digital Democracy’s report ‘Democracy 2:0: Hitting refresh on the Digital Democracy Commission’. The Government is committed to building a modern democracy that works for everyone, and I am visiting all nations and areas of the UK to hear how the government can promote political participation and voter registration. This includes...
Kevan Jones: If the hon. Gentleman remembers, we have actually done that already. In 2004, the Labour Government did a trial of all postal voting, e-voting and other things. It was commended by the Electoral Commission. It was his party and others who argued that fraud could be endemic, and that was why the trial was not taken any further.
Kevan Jones: I know this Government love things foreign, but may I tell the Minister, with great respect, that he need not go very far to find examples of where e-voting has worked and there have not been any problems? I am referring to the pilots that took place in 2004, including in my constituency and others in the north-east, after which the Electoral Commission’s report found no problems with...