Mark Valladares reported here yesterday the ‘temporary withdrawal of the Election Registration and Administration Bill’. That temporary appears to have become a bit more permanent, according to the BBC:
A Lords vote to delay the review of constituency boundaries until 2018 has been postponed “indefinitely”. The vote on an amendment to delay the changes, tabled by Labour and signed by Lib Dem and other peers, was originally expected on Wednesday and postponed until Monday. But government sources say it has now been delayed to an unspecified date. It follows reports that Downing St was unaware Lib Dems supported the motion and ordered the vote to be pulled.
The boundary review has been controversial since its outset, with the Commons set to be reduced in size from 650 to 600 MPs and the population size of constituencies made roughly equal. However, the Lib Dems have said the changes cannot happen before the next election – scheduled for 2015 – and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has promised to oppose the final proposals. …
Reports suggest that David Cameron had been unaware of Liberal Democrat support for the amendment and asked for the debate to be delayed.
A Lib Dem source refused to confirm to the BBC that the prime minister and deputy prime minister had argued over the issue, but said it was better to postpone the boundary review now so that money was not spent preparing for something that would not happen.
