Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Henley (Conservative). It was answered on Tuesday, 3 November 2009.

Electoral Commission: Weekend Polling

Question: My Lords, following on from what the noble Lord, Lord Howarth, said about people being alienated from the electoral process, does the Minister accept that his Government’s policies are wrong, particularly on matters such as immigration—even the Home Secretary has admitted that—and have been wrong over the past few years, which has led to support for fringe parties such as the BNP and, as the noble Lord, Lord Howarth, said, to a large number of people being alienated from the voting process?

Answer: My Lords, I do not agree at all with what the noble Lord suggests. The fact is that all political parties from time to time face the onslaught of the media, including individual and party politicians. That is a danger which we all face in a democracy such as ours. For the noble Lord to categorise one aspect of policy as if that somehow led to one result does not give enough seriousness to the issue we face.

Secondary information