Oliver Heald MP

Oliver Heald MP (Conservative) North East Hertfordshire. First elected 1992. Studied Law at Cambridge. Qualified as a barrister and practised in East Anglia from Chambers in Cambridge. Shadow minister responsible for e-government. Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He is married and has three children. He is a member of EURIM

Issues

Electronic Voting

On his website Restoring confidence and integrity to British democracy 1 August 2005

We believe that the roll-out of remote electronic voting in elections should also be cancelled. E-voting is even more risky than postal voting; not only is the internet very insecure, but PIN numbers must still be sent by post to voters – and there is no way of confidently identifying that an electronic vote is being cast by the eligible voter. This lack of an adequate "audit trail" is extremely worrying in the light of the risk of fraud already identified with postal voting. E-voting pilots in local elections have proved expensive and have not delivered any significant increase in turnout.

House of Commons debate Electoral System 26 February 2007 Tried to move a motion that would amongst other things

... expresses concern at Government attempts to introduce electronic voting until such time as adequate security measures are available; ...

He then continued and in his speech on the motion said

The Government are going even further and, despite all the reservations of experts in the field who say that it is dangerous, they are moving ahead with their idea of e-voting. The Foundation for Information Policy Research said that the only way to allow electronic voting is
"through machines controlled by election officials that produce an auditable paper trail. Anything else is an invitation for fraud to hackers and virus writers".
However, that is what the Minister thinks we should have in this country; that is what she is doing with her pilots.

House of Commons debates Electoral Administration Bill 8 November 2005

She is now saying, "We've tried electronic voting. It's failed. Let's introduce it." She cannot have it both ways.

House of Commons debates Electoral Administration Bill 8 November 2005

It is clear that the public value the tried and tested ballot-box polling station—the traditional British way of voting. They should not be forced to vote by other means such as postal voting if they do not want to do so. That is the recommendation of the Electoral Commission; it has been restated twice and it is time that the Government agreed to it.
Amendment No. 23 deals with pilot schemes for local elections and states that they should not include
"electronic voting, telephone voting, text message voting, internet voting or voting by analogous electronic means".
The point was made by the Hon. Member for Sheffield, Attercliffe (Mr. Betts) that such pilot schemes have shown no sign of increasing turnout in the past. The concern with electronic voting is that there is no proper way to establish an audit trail, so we propose in amendment No. 23 that we should not introduce such measures when there is no justification for them.
As for the experts, the Foundation for Information Policy Research has warned that
"the only safe way to allow electronic voting is through machines controlled by election officials that produce an auditable paper trail. Anything else is an invitation for fraud".
Let us not have that invitation. Mr. Ben Fairweather — a research fellow at De Montford University—has said:
"I have seen most if not all of the pilot schemes demonstrated, and have spotted substantial flaws . . . How do you know who's in the room with someone when they vote and how can you be sure they are not trying to influence someone's vote? . . . There are serious worries about SMS voting."
He goes on to describe all the difficulties with that. Let us take the same cautious approach to those issues as the Government claim they want to take.
We are concerned that piloting is becoming a serial occupation of the Government. They pilot and pilot and pilot, and then they pilot and pilot and pilot. That has been said before in the debate, but it is getting to the point where some controls should be put in place, so we suggest that Parliament should approve the pilot schemes.

House of Commons debate Electoral Integrity 22 June 2005

... a MORI poll in March this year found that 54 per cent. of the public think that postal voting has made it easier to commit election fraud, and an even higher proportion are concerned about fraud with electronic voting.
...
Conservative Members also have concerns about the future use of other pilot methods, including remote electronic voting. We believe that the technology for e-voting is very insecure and that all the problems that one gets with postal votes would apply to the issuing of PIN numbers. One would end up with a double danger, not just a single one.

He told the BBC when the 2006 e-voting trials where dropped 6 September 2005

"Remote electronic voting is even more vulnerable than all-postal voting."
"Not only are the internet and text messaging insecure, but PIN numbers must still be sent by post to voters - and there is no way of confidently identifying that an electronic vote is being cast by the eligible voter."
"This lack of an adequate audit trail is extremely worrying in the light of the risk of fraud already exposed with all-postal voting."
"Past e-voting pilots in local elections have proved expensive and not delivered any significant increase in turnout."

Written question Absent Voting 27 March 2007

To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission if he will place in the Library copies of the correspondence between the Electoral Commission and the Department of Constitutional Affairs on remote electronic voting pilots in the 2007 local elections.

Written question 12 December 2006

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what factors will be considered when evaluating value for money in assessing applications for (a) election pilots and (b) e-voting pilots for the May 2007 local elections.

House of Commons debate Postal Voting

...While we have been talking about protections for postal voting, the Government have been insisting on going yet further with e-voting, text voting and the like. Is it not time that they returned to the real world?

Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act

Oliver Heald was Tory front-bench spokesman on RIP. He said he wanted to completely re-write this "burden of proof" section of the Bill.

Oliver Heald MP RIP Standing Committee 4 April 2000

"The worry is that the burden of proof will be reversed for the defences in the clause. A person is being asked to prove something, whereas the prosecution need only prove facts that are entirely neutral as between guilt and innocence....I expect the Minister to say that the burden of proof has not been reversed. He may argue that, because certain things must be proved, there is a burden on the prosecution. He may say that it will be necessary to prove service, non-compliance and that the person has or has had the key. All those, however, are equally consistent with a guilty and a not guilty intention. Will the Minister accept that there is a burden on the accused to establish innocence, against a background of the prosecution proving neutral facts?"

Database Security

Written answers Database Security 25 October 2006

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many confirmed security breaches of computer databases controlled by her Department have occurred in each year since its establishment.

Identity cards

Labour eroding the privacy of law-abiding citizens 2 November 2006 Mr Heald said: "From plans for a national ID cards database, to chips in wheelie bins to check your rubbish, to council tax inspectors knocking on your door, its clear that under Labour the liberties and privacy of honest law-abiding citizens are being eroded."

Freedom of Information

Labour's stealth measures to curtail the public's right to know 16 October 2006

Oliver Heald, the Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, declared: "I fear that the Government may be attempting to close down public scrutiny by curtailing the public's right to know with this more restrictive regime. The introduction of the Freedom of Information Act has clearly become too embarrassing for this disaster-prone Labour Government."

Database State

Database state being introduced by stealth 16 January 2007

"Ministerial plans to enable Government departments to share personal information on people will flout human rights and extend official intrusion into the private lives of individuals"
"People should not take Tony Blair's words at best value. Day by day, the Government is creating a database state - potentially intrusive and sinister 'Big Brother' computers that will be used to increase taxes by stealth and extend the reach of the nanny state."
"Labour plans to weaken the data protection laws must be resisted. For all of Labour's talk of human rights, it is clear they have no respect for the privacy of law-abiding citizens."

Links

News

22009-01-23 - Oliver Heald's Blog - My relief that the Government has not blocked access to MPs expenses
Author: Oliver Heald MP
Summary: Many people were worried – as I was – that the Government motion to exempt MPs from the Freedom of Information Act might be forced through by Government Whips, as threatened. The High Court has ordered certain information to be published and that is what must happen. It would be wrong for Parliament to act retrospectively to stop this. Of course, publishing 1.2 million records is a task and will cost £2 million, but I think the Courts must be respected. I do wonder if there might not be a better simpler system for MPs’ Pay and Allowances and for making the details public.
2007-01-16 - eGov Monitor - Database state being introduced by stealth
Summary: The Government is seeking to create a "Big Brother" super database that will be used to raise more taxes and extend the nanny state, the Conservatives have warned. The Shadow Secretary for Constitutional Affairs warned of the threat to privacy after Secretary for Work and Pensions John Hutton rejected the concept of a "Big Brother" state and claimed that the scheme was intended to prevent "over-zealous data sharing rules" becoming an obstacle to improving public services.
2007-01-15 - Conservative Party - Database state being introduced by stealth
Summary: The Government is seeking to create a "Big Brother" super database that will be used to raise more taxes and extend the nanny state, the Conservatives have warned. Ministerial plans to enable Government departments to share personal information on people will flout human rights and extend official intrusion into the private lives of individuals, Oliver Heald said. The Shadow Secretary for Constitutional Affairs warned of the threat to privacy after Secretary for Work and Pensions John Hutton rejected the concept of a "Big Brother" state and claimed that the scheme was intended to prevent "over-zealous data sharing rules" becoming an obstacle to improving public
2006-12-15 - The Times - Ministers curb freedom of information
Author: Sam Coates
Summary: Plans to restrict MPs, campaigning groups and journalists to one freedom of information request every three months were published by the Government yesterday. ... Maurice Frankel, director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information, said: "These changes strike right at the heart of the Act, which is that the basis for decisions should be the public interest, not authorities’ interests. The Government is taking a scythe to its own Act." Oliver Heald, the Shadow Constitutional Affairs Secretary, said: "I fear that the Government may be attempting to close down public scrutiny by curtailing the public’s right to know with this more restrictive regime."
2006-11-02 - Conservative Party - Labour eroding the privacy of law-abiding citizens
Author: Oliver Heald MP
Summary: Oliver Heald has accused Labour ministers of promoting too much intrusion into people's private lives after the Government's own information supremo warned that the UK could "sleepwalk into a surveillance society". ... He was commenting after the Government's Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, expressed fears that the surveillance society would become a reality. Mr Thomas was reacting to a report from the Surveillance Studies Network which suggested that the UK has the most intensive surveillance of any country in the developed world.
2006-10-16 - Conservative Party - Labour's stealth measures to curtail the public's right to know
Author: Oliver Heald MP
Summary: Conservatives have warned that the Government is trying to "close down public scrutiny" after new charges were proposed to cover Freedom of Information inquiries. ... Mr Heald protested: "These plans to allow Government officials to 'aggregate' requests are of serious concern and could easily be abused by an administration with something to hide." He added: "Media organisations, pressure groups and opposition parties face being stonewalled, purely because other colleagues in the same organisation were also making requests. It is clear that this is a stealth attempt to curtail the right to know and hinder individuals from asking for information to which they are entitled."
2006-06-28 - The Guardian - MPs condemn plans to limit freedom of information
Author: David Hencke
Summary: An influential committee of MPs will today condemn proposals by Lord Falconer, the lord chancellor, to limit the use of the government's new Freedom of Information Act only 18 months after it became law. ... Oliver Heald, the shadow secretary of state for constitutional affairs, said: "The introduction of the Freedom of Information Act has clearly become too embarrassing for this disaster-prone Labour government." "I fear that they may be attempting to close down public scrutiny by introducing a new stealth tax for information. This should be strongly resisted."
2006-02-28 - The Register - Public service reform unit axed
Summary: A key Cabinet Office unit with responsibility for public sector reform is being quietly broken up. Conservative spokesperson for the Cabinet Office Oliver Heald is concerned about the impact the move will have on the wider reform agenda.
2006-01-09 - Conservative Party - Town halls to snoop on homeowners for ID card evasion
Summary: Conservatives have expressed concern after it emerged that council bureaucrats are to be armed with sweeping new powers to snoop on private homes for ID card evasion. Shadow Constitutional Affairs Secretary Oliver Heald accused Labour ministers of adopting "Big Brother" methods to enforce planned new ID card rules, which could include imposing fines of up to £2,500. As the shadow minister responsible for e-government, Mr Heald said: "There is growing concern amongst the public about Labour's use of invasive 'Big Brother' computer databases - without transparency or clear backing from the public - such as for the forthcoming council tax revaluation. I believe local residents will be alarmed at the further prospect of town hall bureaucrats being told to investigate people's homes for ID Cards, backed up with the threat of thousand pound fines."
2006-01-09 - Silicon.com - Councils to be "local police" for ID card database
Author: Steve Ranger
Summary: Link between electoral database and ID system mooted. Council officials could become "local police" for the controversial new ID cards database under government proposals, according to claims from the Conservative Party. Tories claim a new electoral database under discussion will be connected to the ID cards database and council officials will be required to 'investigate' any discrepancies. Shadow e-government minister Oliver Heald said there is growing concern amongst the public about Labour's use of invasive databases without transparency or clear backing from the public.
2005-09-08 - ZDNet - E-voting 'must be dropped'
Summary: The Conservative Party has called for the government to drop any idea of e-voting in future elections. Oliver Heald MP , the shadow secretary of state for constitutional affairs, issued a statement with the demand on 6 September, 2005. This followed news that the government is not yet planning for another round of e-voting pilots.
2005-09-06 - The Independent - E-voting plans shelved
Author: John Deane
Summary: Ministers have shelved plans to test electronic voting in local elections next year, it emerged today. ... Shadow secretary of state for constitutional affairs Oliver Heald said: "Conservatives welcome the Labour Government's belated cancellation of its reckless e-voting plans. "Remote electronic voting is even more vulnerable than all-postal voting; not only are the internet and text messaging insecure, but Pin numbers must still be sent by post to voters - and there is no way of confidently identifying that an electronic vote is being cast by the eligible voter." "This lack of an adequate audit trail is extremely worrying in the light of the risk of fraud already exposed with all-postal voting." He continued: "Past e-voting pilots in local elections have proved expensive and not delivered any significant increase in turnout." "The Government must retain the tried and trusted ballot box as the foundation of British democracy. Restoring public confidence in our electoral system is more important than spending taxpayers' money on 'Big Brother' text messaging gimmicks."
2005-09-06 - BBC - Web and text vote trials dropped
Summary: In 2002, the government unveiled an action plan, including pilot schemes, to allow an "electronically-enabled" general election to take place after 2006. But in a written parliamentary answer given at the end of last month to Conservative shadow constitutional affairs minister Oliver Heald, the government said trials of the system planned for next year had been scrapped.
2005-09-06 - The Register - UK.gov ditches 'Big Brother'-style e-voting
Author: Tim Richardson
Summary: Rounding on the Government Oliver Heald MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, described the Government's e-voting plans as "reckless" and "insecure". "Past e-voting pilots in local elections have proved expensive and not delivered any significant increase in turnout," said Heald. "The Government must retain the tried and trusted ballot box as the foundation of British democracy. "Restoring public confidence in our electoral system is more important than spending taxpayers' money on 'Big Brother' text messaging gimmicks. "This lack of an adequate audit trail is extremely worrying in the light of the risk of fraud already exposed with all-postal voting," he said.
2005-09-06 - Conservative Party - Government U-turn on internet & text voting
Summary: Oliver Heald MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, said: "Conservatives welcome the Labour Government's belated cancellation of its reckless e-voting plans. Remote electronic voting is even more vulnerable than all-postal voting; not only are the internet and text messaging insecure, but PIN numbers must still be sent by post to voters - and there is no way of confidently identifying that an electronic vote is being cast by the eligible voter. This lack of an adequate audit trail is extremely worrying in the light of the risk of fraud already exposed with all-postal voting." ... Mr Heald concluded, "past e-voting pilots in local elections have proved expensive and not delivered any significant increase in turnout. The Government must retain the tried and trusted ballot box as the foundation of British democracy. Restoring public confidence in our electoral system is more important than spending taxpayers' money on 'Big Brother' text messaging gimmicks."
2005-08-01 - Oliver Heald Website - Restoring confidence and integrity to British democracy
Author: Oliver Heald MP
Summary: We believe that the roll-out of remote electronic voting in elections should also be cancelled. E-voting is even more risky than postal voting; not only is the internet very insecure, but PIN numbers must still be sent by post to voters – and there is no way of confidently identifying that an electronic vote is being cast by the eligible voter. This lack of an adequate "audit trail" is extremely worrying in the light of the risk of fraud already identified with postal voting. E-voting pilots in local elections have proved expensive and have not delivered any significant increase in turnout.
2004-12-09 - The Guardian - Polling system 'fiddling' risks fraud, Tories warn
Author: James Sturcke
Summary: Oliver Heald said: "The government's reckless fiddling with the electoral system has undermined the integrity of Britain's electoral system. There is a risk that the kind of intimidation and fraud that was common in the 18th and 19th centuries becomes widespread in the future. "Tony Blair's government wants to throw away the tried and trusted ballot box and force all-postal voting on the British public irrespective of their wishes. Serious questions still remain as well about the security surrounding electronic voting. We must protect people's right to choose to vote in person and in secret."
2000-07-27 - The Register - Politicians unite in RIP love-in
Author: Linda Harrison
Summary: Charles Clarke, Home Office Minister, last night described the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) bill as "one of the most complicated pieces of legislation I've ever seen". ... "This is now a much improved bill. The two houses together have achieved a great deal," said Oliver Heald, Tory MP for NE Herts, who said the original draft had been an "ugly beast of a bill".
2000-07-07 - The Register - RIP: even Big Brother is confused
Author: Linda Harrison
Summary: Oliver Heald, Tory front-bench spokesman on RIP, said the Conservatives still wanted to completely re-write this "burden of proof" section of the Bill.
2000-07-04 - The Register - Big Brother Bill faces Select Committee storm
Summary: RIP opponents gather on all sides to halt legislation in its tracks. Oliver Heald, Shadow Police Minister and MP for NE Herts, said: "If we don't get the changes we want in the Select Committee, we may decide not to support the Bill." He labelled RIP as "too vague", saying the Tories' amendments would tackle "technical issues, financial costs and human rights issues".
2000-07-04 - The Register - RIP: Tories attack from the Right
Summary: Oliver Heald, Conservative MP for NE Herts, is one of the fiercest opponents of the government's proposed Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Bill. In an interview with The Register, he explains which main aspects have still to be resolved with less than six months before the proposed Act is expected to be passed.
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