HL Deb 16 October 2000 vol 617 c71WA
Lord Laird

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they consider it a basic human right for a voter to have the ability to join the political party of his or her choice. [HL4043]

Lord Bassam of Brighton

It would be for the domestic courts, and ultimately the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, to decide in the circumstances of a particular case, and in the light of the European Convention on Human Rights, whether the Convention rights of a voter prevented from joining the political party of his or her choice had been violated.