Next week, the Government’s dangerous Elections Bill will be back in Parliament.
The bill sets out plans to spend up to £20,000,000 extra per election to demand photo ID at polling stations.
With millions lacking the right paperwork, these expensive plans could disenfranchise over two million voters according to the government’s own figures.
Far from improving our elections, this bill will drive a bulldozer through our democracy – it’s a dangerous policy that must be stopped.
And also this petition with 38 degrees
The expensive voter ID plans aren’t all the bill contains though – it also tries to neuter our independent elections watchdog.
For the first time ever, the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission has a single party majority on it. Now the government want to write a ‘Strategy and Policy Statement’ for the Electoral Commission – setting out what the Government think should be the Commission’s priorities.
As Britain continues to struggle with the pandemic, the government’s priority seems to be passing legislation that makes it harder for people to vote – and easier for MPs to set their own rules.