Voter ID law is ‘staggering waste of money’ and must be stopped

MP Helen Morgan has described Conservative plans to introduce voter ID as a “staggering waste of money” and warned they will lead to voter suppression.

The North Shropshire MP addressed the House of Commons as the Liberal Democrats attempt to block legislation which would force voters to take photo ID to the ballot box despite allegations of electoral fraud being extremely rare in the UK.

The proposed rules would disproportionately affect younger people by allowing 60+ Oyster cards or bus passes to be used as ID but not the young persons equivalent, therefore benefiting the Conservative Party due to their older voting base.

Speaking in a debate in the House of Commons on Monday, Helen Morgan said: “This government should be trying to give the next generation a reason to vote for it, not suppress their view because they've offered them nothing.”

The North Shropshire MP said: “It beggars belief that this scheme is going ahead. Our councils are cutting critical services because of extreme financial pressure and we shouldn't be burdening them with the additional cost for a scheme that is totally unnecessary.”

Helen, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Levelling Up, highlighted how the Government is opting to spend £180 million on the scheme despite there being just one conviction for in-person voter fraud in the entire country in 2019.

Helen added: “The government hasn't shown any concern at all about the possibility of postal voter fraud, which isn't going to require any form of ID. I fear that it's down to the fact that postal voters are most likely to be older and vote Conservative, while the young and the other groups that we've mentioned are more likely to support an opposition party.”

Research has shown that around 3.5 million people are unlikely to have the right ID and the Conservative Chair of the Local Government Association has called for the plans to be delayed because councils will not have time to implement the rules before May without putting access to votes at risk.

Helen told MPs: “In summary, I would urge the House to consider the fact we don't need photo ID, we can't afford to implement the scheme, and the proposals will simply lead to voter suppression.”

Today, Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords are using a rare Parliamentary procedure called a ‘Fatal Motion’ to try to block the new Voter ID regulations.