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| Time for decent Tories to speak up. Our democracy is being rigged | Time for decent Tories to speak up. Our democracy is being rigged |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Democracy is precious: the collective product of centuries of struggle by our ancestors, and forged amid protests, riots and massacres. Those who fought for it were humiliated, ridiculed, attacked and tortured: think of the Levellers and the Chartists, trade unionists and suffragettes, soldiers who drove back the tide of genocidal Nazism – all laid bricks on the foundations of our democracy. Given the sacrifice and effort expended over so many generations, we should be sensitive about serving governments tinkering with our democracy. Alarming, then, that there is all too little scrutiny of a far-reaching attack on a democratic system that was so hard fought for. | Democracy is precious: the collective product of centuries of struggle by our ancestors, and forged amid protests, riots and massacres. Those who fought for it were humiliated, ridiculed, attacked and tortured: think of the Levellers and the Chartists, trade unionists and suffragettes, soldiers who drove back the tide of genocidal Nazism – all laid bricks on the foundations of our democracy. Given the sacrifice and effort expended over so many generations, we should be sensitive about serving governments tinkering with our democracy. Alarming, then, that there is all too little scrutiny of a far-reaching attack on a democratic system that was so hard fought for. |
| Related: We must reclaim UK's million missing voters, says Labour's Gloria de Piero | Related: We must reclaim UK's million missing voters, says Labour's Gloria de Piero |
| A new paper from the Smith Institute is the sort that goes almost universally unread; but the developments it details should prompt deep alarm. The old system of voter registration, whereby an entire household could be enfranchised at a stroke, is being abandoned. Instead, every potential voter must be registered individually. Although councils were expected to re-register voters by the end of 2016, the target was – with little comment – moved forward a year by parliament, just before summer recess. | A new paper from the Smith Institute is the sort that goes almost universally unread; but the developments it details should prompt deep alarm. The old system of voter registration, whereby an entire household could be enfranchised at a stroke, is being abandoned. Instead, every potential voter must be registered individually. Although councils were expected to re-register voters by the end of 2016, the target was – with little comment – moved forward a year by parliament, just before summer recess. |
| The institute warns that up to 2.5 million people could be removed from the new electoral register – more even than the Electoral Commission’s own estimate of 1.9 million. Taking into account those not already registered, that could leave as many as 10 million Britons without the right to vote. That is, as the institute points out, more than voted for Labour in May. In London, more than 400,000 voters could disappear from the electoral rolls, but the impact will be even more severe in university towns: 17% of Cambridge’s voters have already vanished, and that’s before an “expected heavy drop-off” in the new academic year. | |
| In the 19th and 20th centuries parliamentary legislation was introduced to expand the electorate; now it is being shrunk. Up to one in five Britons could end up being excluded from the voting register: no wonder Hope Not Hate is warning of “the single biggest act of disenfranchisement in our history”. Let’s offer a prize – it could be a peerage perhaps – for the first person to guess who benefits from the new system. “As they stand,” says the institute, the new registers “favour more affluent rural and semi-rural areas, which have stable populations.” | In the 19th and 20th centuries parliamentary legislation was introduced to expand the electorate; now it is being shrunk. Up to one in five Britons could end up being excluded from the voting register: no wonder Hope Not Hate is warning of “the single biggest act of disenfranchisement in our history”. Let’s offer a prize – it could be a peerage perhaps – for the first person to guess who benefits from the new system. “As they stand,” says the institute, the new registers “favour more affluent rural and semi-rural areas, which have stable populations.” |
| Related: PM 'rigging rules' by changing law on trade union political funds – Harman | Related: PM 'rigging rules' by changing law on trade union political funds – Harman |
| And what of the effect on black and minority ethnic voters? We know that in the 2010 election 68% of them voted Labour compared with just 16% for the Tories, only two points ahead of the Lib Dems. Although registered ethnic minority voters are about as likely to vote as their white counterparts, registration levels can be much lower. While 90% of white people were registered at a current address in 2010, the number dropped to 59% among those of black African heritage, with another 5% registered at another address. | And what of the effect on black and minority ethnic voters? We know that in the 2010 election 68% of them voted Labour compared with just 16% for the Tories, only two points ahead of the Lib Dems. Although registered ethnic minority voters are about as likely to vote as their white counterparts, registration levels can be much lower. While 90% of white people were registered at a current address in 2010, the number dropped to 59% among those of black African heritage, with another 5% registered at another address. |
| Enter stage right the new redrawn constituency boundaries, which will be based on the revised electoral registers. We won’t need to wait until 2020 to see the impact: in next year’s Scottish, Welsh, London and local elections, says the report, the new system “could have a profound effect”. The effect will be on urban voters, private tenants, students and ethnic minorities – in other words, whole chunks of the electorate that are significantly less likely to vote Tory. | Enter stage right the new redrawn constituency boundaries, which will be based on the revised electoral registers. We won’t need to wait until 2020 to see the impact: in next year’s Scottish, Welsh, London and local elections, says the report, the new system “could have a profound effect”. The effect will be on urban voters, private tenants, students and ethnic minorities – in other words, whole chunks of the electorate that are significantly less likely to vote Tory. |
| Even before boundaries are redrawn on the basis of registers purged disproportionately of non-Tory voters, our electoral system now has a pronounced anti-Labour bias. According to the pollster John Curtice, if Labour and the Tories were exactly tied in number of votes cast, Labour would be 46 seats behind. | Even before boundaries are redrawn on the basis of registers purged disproportionately of non-Tory voters, our electoral system now has a pronounced anti-Labour bias. According to the pollster John Curtice, if Labour and the Tories were exactly tied in number of votes cast, Labour would be 46 seats behind. |
| Let’s not pretend that the Tories don’t know exactly what they are doing. As the Tories’ house journal, the Daily Telegraph, put it in the immediate aftermath of the general election: “Redrawing constituency boundaries to lock Labour out of power for a decades [sic] is at the top of the agenda for the new Conservative government, senior Tories have said.” | Let’s not pretend that the Tories don’t know exactly what they are doing. As the Tories’ house journal, the Daily Telegraph, put it in the immediate aftermath of the general election: “Redrawing constituency boundaries to lock Labour out of power for a decades [sic] is at the top of the agenda for the new Conservative government, senior Tories have said.” |
| There is a concerted offensive against democracy. Voter registration is the most dramatic element, but there are others. The new trade union legislation near fatally compromises the right to strike: the Tory MP David Davis has made comparisons between the bill and Franco’s Spain. It also introduces a new “opt-in” clause for trade union political funding: and, as critics point out, there’s no necessity to ballot shareholders in companies that donate to the Tories. On the one hand, this could decimate the ability of unions – the only sizeable organised counterweight to corporate power – to campaign politically. On the other, it could drain Labour of the vast majority of its cash, rendering it virtually unable to function as a political force. | There is a concerted offensive against democracy. Voter registration is the most dramatic element, but there are others. The new trade union legislation near fatally compromises the right to strike: the Tory MP David Davis has made comparisons between the bill and Franco’s Spain. It also introduces a new “opt-in” clause for trade union political funding: and, as critics point out, there’s no necessity to ballot shareholders in companies that donate to the Tories. On the one hand, this could decimate the ability of unions – the only sizeable organised counterweight to corporate power – to campaign politically. On the other, it could drain Labour of the vast majority of its cash, rendering it virtually unable to function as a political force. |
| It gets worse. In the autumn statement George Osborne, the chancellor, introduced drastic cuts to short money – payments used to sustain the functioning of opposition parties. Labour is set to lose over a million pounds annually. It is a brazen attempt to further curtail the ability of the opposition – a crucial linchpin in a democracy – to function. | It gets worse. In the autumn statement George Osborne, the chancellor, introduced drastic cuts to short money – payments used to sustain the functioning of opposition parties. Labour is set to lose over a million pounds annually. It is a brazen attempt to further curtail the ability of the opposition – a crucial linchpin in a democracy – to function. |
| In the 19th and 20th centuries, legislation was introduced to expand the electorate – now it is being shrunk | In the 19th and 20th centuries, legislation was introduced to expand the electorate – now it is being shrunk |
| We could go on. In the last parliament the government introduced a farcically misnamed lobbying bill – rebranded the gagging bill – which left the Tories’ corporate backers almost entirely untouched, but which hindered the ability of NGOs, charities and trade unions to function. | We could go on. In the last parliament the government introduced a farcically misnamed lobbying bill – rebranded the gagging bill – which left the Tories’ corporate backers almost entirely untouched, but which hindered the ability of NGOs, charities and trade unions to function. |
| We live in a country where the large majority of the country’s press uncritically backs the governing party, applauding Tory budgets and autumn statements as though we were some tinpot dictatorship. And the government speaks in ever more sinister terms about its main opposition, branding it a “threat to our national security, our economic security and your family’s security”, and dismissing opponents of military adventurism as “terrorist sympathisers”. | We live in a country where the large majority of the country’s press uncritically backs the governing party, applauding Tory budgets and autumn statements as though we were some tinpot dictatorship. And the government speaks in ever more sinister terms about its main opposition, branding it a “threat to our national security, our economic security and your family’s security”, and dismissing opponents of military adventurism as “terrorist sympathisers”. |
| This is not a strategy born of strength, but of the fear and insecurity that Tories feel about their long-term prospects. Labour is currently in disarray, but politics can move quickly. Tories know they won on the lowest share of the vote of any majority Conservative government, and five percentage points fewer than John Major’s own surprise victory in 1992. Better to act now, to rig the system to guarantee Tory victories. Many Tories will approve. | This is not a strategy born of strength, but of the fear and insecurity that Tories feel about their long-term prospects. Labour is currently in disarray, but politics can move quickly. Tories know they won on the lowest share of the vote of any majority Conservative government, and five percentage points fewer than John Major’s own surprise victory in 1992. Better to act now, to rig the system to guarantee Tory victories. Many Tories will approve. |
| But I wonder if others will feel that the democracy our ancestors fought for so courageously should not be undermined to advance narrow party interest. I hope that view exists. I hope they will speak up too. | But I wonder if others will feel that the democracy our ancestors fought for so courageously should not be undermined to advance narrow party interest. I hope that view exists. I hope they will speak up too. |