HC Deb 01 May 1980 vol 983 cc1601-3
8. Mr. George Cunningham

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has any plans to propose changes in legislation governing the activities of the Boundary Commissions.

Mr. Brittan

We are considering whether any such changes are necessary or desirable.

Mr. Cunningham

Does the Minister remember the remark that he let slip a month ago to the hon. Member for Morecambe and Lonsdale (Mr. Lennox-Boyd) suggesting that the Government had in mind the possibility of changing the law relating to Boundary Commissions in order to speed up the process? Since it is generally accepted that the next redistribution will benefit the Conservative Party, does the Minister accept that it would be a political scandal if the Government were to use their majority in the House to alter the law relating to the Boundary Commissions in a direction which benefited the Conservative Party?

Mr. Brittan

I accept that we have a lot to learn from the Opposition about political scandals in relation to these matters. I think that it would be a politi- cal scandal to hold the next General Election on the basis of the present boundaries, which are hopelessly out of date and do not reflect the quality of representation that should be paramount in our thinking. There is a strong case for thinking that it is quite unnecessary that the Boundary Commission should have to complete its consideration of the European constituencies before reporting the outcome of its consideration of the Westminster parliamentary constituencies.

Mr. Shersby

Does my hon. and learned Friend recall the gerrymandering of the Boundary Commission's report by the Leader of the Opposition when he was Home Secretary? Does not my hon. and learned Friend agree that it is quite scandalous that some constituencies could be at a grave disadvantage compared with others? Some hon. Members represent constituencies with 100,000 electors and others represent only 40,000 electors. Will my hon. and learned Friend take urgent steps to see that that situation is remedied?

Mr. Brittan

I think that it is quite indefensible that one should fight an election with the present disparity in the size of constituencies. I merely referred, in passing, to past experience, and I do not think that we need to look back. We should be looking to the future and to implementing the representations of the Boundary Commission in an appropriate way in order to safeguard democracy.

Mr. Merlyn Rees

The Boundary Commission procedure to ensure that there are not over-small or over-large constituencies is right. The Minister referred to the European elections and changing procedures there and my hon. Friend the Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Cunningham) was trying to find out what is in the mind of the Government. Why are the Government thinking of changing the law so that the procedures for the European elections can be carried out in a way that was not envisaged when the original legislation was carried? We do not understand what the Government have in mind in this context. The question has nothing to do with gerrymandering and the Boundary Commissions. Is the hon. and learned Gentleman aware that many of us feel strongly about the nature of the European Parliament and the way in which it is organised?

Mr. Brittan

I do not think that anything I have said, or canvassed, relates to the organisation of the European Parliament, or its powers. What I have said relates to the fact that, at the moment, the parliamentary Boundary Commission—including the English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish Commissions—cannot report until it has considered any changes that it thinks appropriate in the European Parliament boundaries. I am talking of boundaries alone. It seems to us that there is no justification for holding up the implementation of the Boundary Commission proposals concerning the Westminster constituencies because it may not be able to complete consideration of the European constituencies.

Mr. Donald Stewart

Will the Minister remind the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Cunningham) of the saying that people who live in glass houses should not throw stones, bearing in mind that his 40 per cent. provision gerrymandered the Scotland Act?

Mr. Brittan

I am afraid that I cannot be drawn on that, because on that issue I believe that the hon. Gentleman showed more wisdom than in his lapse today.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

Does my hon. and learned Friend agree that the way in which the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Cunningham) phrased his question suggested that the way the boundaries were left at the last General Election gives great advantage to the Labour Party? Is not the important point that the boundaries should be fair? Whether that fairness removes an advantage presently enjoyed by the Labour Party is a totally separate issue.

Mr. Brittan

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. I ignore speculation as to the effect or otherwise of the implementation of any proposals that might or might not come. Such speculation is always extremely hazardous. What is sure and firm is that it is quite wrong that there should be constituencies with over 100,000 electors and others with under 30,000 electors.