THIRD PARTIES RECOGNISED FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS PART (Hansard, 14 March 2000)

§ Mr. Tipping
I beg to move amendment No. 36, in page 52, line 18, leave out from "which" to "complies" in line 24.

Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this it will be convenient to discuss Government amendments Nos. 135 and 37 to 40.

§ Mr. Tipping
Amendments Nos. 36 to 40 relate to the notification procedure in respect of third parties at elections. By making a notification to the Electoral Commission, a third party is able to incur controlled expenditure in excess of the limits set out in clause 87(5)—£10,000 in England and £5,000 in other parts of the UK—up to the limits set out in schedule 9.
There was some discussion in Standing Committee of the statement to be made by a third party under clause 81(1). In response to questions from the hon. Member for North Dorset (Mr. Walter), I said that the Government would table an amendment to clarify subsection (1)(b). On further reflection, we now believe that it would be preferable simply to omit paragraphs (a) and (b). That is the effect of Government amendment No. 36.
The purpose of clause 81 is to bring those third parties that intend to incur significant controlled expenditure within the Electoral Commission's regulatory jurisdiction. We want to make that as easy as possible, not least to prevent a third party from inadvertently committing an offence by exceeding the expenditure limits in clause 87(5).
There may be circumstances in which a third party will need to make a notification to the Electoral Commission under clause 81(1), to avoid committing an offence under 216 clause 87, but in which they could not honestly make a statement that they intend to incur expenditure in excess of the relevant limit in the next 12 months. Removing the need to make a statement in the terms set out in clause 81(1)(a) and (b) will ensure that a third party is not forced into a catch-22 situation.
Amendments Nos. 39 and 40 are consequential on No. 36.
The purpose of amendments Nos. 37 and 38 is to ensure that a notification by a third party does not lapse during a regulated period for the purposes of the expenditure limits provided in schedule 9. The need for the amendments is perhaps best illustrated by the following example. A recognised third party may incur controlled expenditure up to a limit of £11,259, in Wales, in the four months before a European parliamentary election. As the Bill stands, were a third party's notification to lapse half way through that four-month campaign, it could spend £11,000 as a recognised third party in the first half of the campaign, and then up to another £5,000 in the second half of the campaign in its capacity as an unrecognised third party. That would clearly be contrary to the expenditure controls provided in part VI.
To guard against that possibility, new subsection (3A), inserted by amendment No. 38, provides that, when a notification would otherwise lapse during the currency of a regulated period, it shall be deemed to continue in force until the end of that period.
The amendments in this group deal with small but important parts of the Bill, and they provide extra clarification.

§ Mr. Walter
I do not want to delay the House for long, but an issue arises when one reads clause 81 and the amendments in this group. I am still somewhat disturbed about that issue, as I was in Committee when we were considering it. Although I acknowledge the points that the Minister has made, I am still concerned that the amendments in this group fail to address some of the issues that were raised in Committee.
6.45 pm
In clause 81, there is a fascinating turn of phrase about an "unincorporated association", and the need to state the name of the association, if it is a recognised third party, and the address of an office of the association in the United Kingdom— as if the association might have offices outside the United Kingdom.
Although we have gone to great lengths in the rest of the Bill to ensure that we prevent foreign influence over our electoral process, the Bill still provides that one could be a recognised third party without necessarily being a United Kingdom citizen or an association in the United Kingdom. In fact, one could be a foreign body.
When clause 81 was drafted, I was told that it could not be amended because it had to comply with the European convention on human rights. We have to be clear, therefore, that the clause will allow a group of foreign individuals to come to the United Kingdom, perhaps to take a suite of rooms at the Savoy hotel, and to register with the Electoral Commission. Subsequently, those individuals may each spend £500,000 across the United 217 Kingdom—on newspaper advertisements, posters and leaflets through the door—all in support of a particular political cause, and all paid for by foreigners.
The clause, as amended by the Government today, is still a glaring leak in the Bill's provisions seeking to ban foreign donations and foreign influence on our political process. The leak is still there, and the Government have done nothing to remove it.