REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE (AMENDMENT) (NO. 2) (Hansard, 18 June 1975)

§ Mr. Clement Freud (Isle of Ely)

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to amend the Representation of the People Act 1949. The purpose of my Bill is to amend the Representation of the People Act, 1949 to enable citizens of the United Kingdom to hold direct elections to the European Parliament.

This matter is dealt with by Article 138 of the Treaty of Rome, which says that the Assembly shall consist of delegates who shall be designated by the respective Parliaments from among their Members in accordance with the procedure laid down by each Member State. It was in accordance with that article that the United Kingdom was given 36 seats in the European Parliament. If, as it seems likely, the country decides to take up its full entitlement of those seats, surely it is logical that the people of this country should have a voice in the election of their representatives.

The basic aim of my Bill is to provide for direct elections now, by the use of a proportional system to allow Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and the regions of England to elect their own representatives.

In an excellent pamphlet entitled "Direct Elections to the European Parliament" following a study group held under the chairmanship of Lord Chelwood, there is a chapter headed "Why Direct Elections?" which contains points which are good enough to bear repetition: Direct elections would fulfil an important psychological purpose—there is nothing so concentrates the collective mind of a political party, for example, as the prospect of losing an election… the holding of direct elections would embody another fundamental principle: it would reflect the faith of the Community in parliamentary democrasy… direct elections would, of themselves, provide a valuable means of maintaining—or of reestablishing—the momentum of the Community… Finally, there is one severely practical argument. The Treaties, until the coming of direct elections, prescribe that the Members of the Parliament shall be designated by the respective Parliaments from among their members '—in other words that each Member shall have a 'dual mandate' 1396 That aspect bears investigation, because it has been proved that a British Member of Parliament performing a "dual rôle" would need 450 days a year properly to discharge his duties to his constituents, to this House, and to the Assembly at Strasbourg. It seems essential that, just as the absence of the right hon. Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Stonehouse) has occasioned a sum of money to be given to the hon. Member for Walsall, South (Mr. George) in order that his constituency work be discharged, so should Members of this House who represent us in Europe receive some financial consideration in order that they may appoint an acceptable deputy to do a measure of their constituency work.

The current state of the European Parliament shows how unfair is the representation. Of the 13 members from this House 12 are Conservative and one a Liberal. Of these, there are two from East Anglia and three from the Home Counties. There is nobody at all from Wales, nor is there anybody to put the views of Northern Ireland.

We have heard today that the Labour Party is meeting to select its 18 representatives. I very much hope that we can discount rumours that they might take from the Liberal Party—the only political party which has been steadily and wholeheartedly pro-European—50 per cent. of our representation of two, which rightfully, proportionately, should be seven.

The Belgian Parliament is currently discussing an all-party motion in favour of direct elections. It is important to encourage preparations for direct elections now, because the European Parliament sets the target date for these as 1978. It seems to me that nine individualistic and different countries can achieve such a target date only if proper preparations are begun at once.

The referendum, which is now behind us, gave the wholehearted consent of the country to the European concept. It is only fair to offer different parts of Britain and the different political opinions of this country a proper and a proportional representation. It must be the aim of this House to assist the credibility of the European Assembly by our participation and by sending truly representative Members on our behalf.

1397 In introducing direct elections now we can give the lead to our EEC partners, which for many of us would be a refreshing change for this country. For those reasons I commend the Bill.