draft European Parliamentary Elections (Miscellaneous Provisions) (United Kingdom and gibraltar) order 2015

Wayne David Excerpts

Wednesday 25th November 2015 General Committees

[Wayne David (Caerphilly) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hanson. I recognise that the order is technical, but nevertheless I have a couple of questions to get more information from the Minister.

As the Minister has said, the order essentially replaces references to the House of Assembly of Gibraltar with references to the Gibraltar Parliament, and there is a change regarding building societies and one or two other small technical amendments. I would like more information on two areas in particular. First, on electoral finance, the explanatory memorandum states that

“registered parties may declare that they intend to contest a European Parliamentary election in the combined region so that they may receive donations and loans from Gibraltar-based donors.”

For European Parliament elections we have the unusual situation of the south-west of England being linked with Gibraltar. What arrangements are there for an individual who receives donations from Gibraltar but spends the money in another part of the region—in other words, the south-west of England?

The financial situation in Gibraltar is different from the one in the United Kingdom. I will not go into the detail of whether Gibraltar is a tax haven, which is a moot point, but I will simply say that a person who lives in Gibraltar pays tax only on income earned in Gibraltar. They are classed as a resident if they spend the majority of their time in the territory or, if they are British or of Irish descent, if they work in Gibraltar. There is no capital gains tax, VAT or sales tax in Gibraltar, so the territory is attractive to those who are quite well off. It has been rumoured that quite a number of Conservatives live there—I cannot think why. An individual can apply for category 2 status, which limits the amount of tax they need to pay. I refer to that simply to highlight the point that Gibraltar is very different from the United Kingdom, but for European Parliament elections it is part of the electoral arrangements for the UK. What are the regulations regarding money that is raised in Gibraltar but spent in these elections in the south-west of England? That is my first question.

My second question is about the conduct of those European Parliament elections. We all know that, as far as England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are concerned, there are quite rigid regulations in place, monitored in large part by the Electoral Commission. The Minister referred to the fact that the Electoral Commission has been consulted about these regulations. Will he say whether the mandate of the Electoral Commission also applies to Gibraltar, especially for elections to the European Parliament, where there is a joint constituency covering the south-west of England and Gibraltar? If that is the case, can he give me some practical examples of how the Electoral Commission monitors the situation? Many people suspect that electoral arrangements in Gibraltar are not as hard and fast as we would perhaps like them to be.

The Opposition will support these regulations. Gibraltar is sometimes forgotten when we talk about elections. In the case of European Parliament elections, Gibraltar is to all intents and purposes part of the United Kingdom, and I would like to hear the Minister’s comments on that.

[John Penrose]

I am glad to hear that the Opposition are supporting the regulations, and I am happy to answer the questions as part of that process. The hon. Gentleman made a point about electoral finance. Broadly speaking, the European Union Referendum Bill tries to ensure that the status of any kind of donor is on all fours, whether they start from Gibraltar or Devizes or anywhere else in the south-west. He is right to say that some of the legal background in Gibraltar is inevitably and necessarily different.

I am that sure the hon. Gentleman will have observed that in the EU Referendum Bill we have tried to apply the general principle that, no matter whether someone is making a donation from the UK or from Gibraltar, broadly the same principles apply in every case. Nothing about that is changed by anything in this set of provisions. I can reassure him that we are not doing anything that would alter any of that. I do not want to try your patience, Mr Hanson, by straying too far into the detail of the Bill, since that is a separate point. Broadly speaking, the principles laid out in the Bill are as I have said they are, and they are not altered by what we are discussing.

On the mandate of the Electoral Commission, the hon. Gentleman will be aware that, unusually for referendums—is it referendums or referenda?—effectively the returning officer for a national poll of that kind is the head of the Electoral Commission. They have a legal position and duty in relation to referendums, which is normally taken by individual constituency returning officers and counting agents.

The entire referendum will be administered legally and led by the Electoral Commission in that respect. That will apply for the mainland UK and all other applicable areas. Again, because of the different legal background in Gibraltar, that may need to have some different legal mechanisms to be delivered, but broadly speaking the principle is clear and applies throughout.

[Wayne David]

I do not want to try the patience of the Chair. I appreciate that that answer is specific to the EU Referendum—is it an Act now or still a Bill?

[John Penrose]

It is still a Bill.

[Wayne David]

My comment, which takes its cue from the explanatory memorandum, is slightly broader than that, relating to elections more generally, and to European Parliament elections in particular, which in many ways are unique. The explanatory memorandum refers to them in the background section, if not in the specifics of the draft order. Would the Minister care to comment on those elections?

[John Penrose]

I am happy to do that. I can confirm to the hon. Gentleman that for these electoral purposes, and particularly for European parliamentary elections, as he mentioned, Gibraltar is part of the south-west region and, broadly speaking, the Electoral Commission’s legal functions in Gibraltar are the same as they are in the rest of the UK. I hope that explicitly clarifies that point.

With that, Mr Hanson, I commend the order to the Committee and hope that we can move on and count it as passed.

Question put and agreed to.