A motion calling on local MPs to oppose government Voter ID proposals will be debated at the meeting of Stockport Council on Thursday evening.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Cllr Lisa Smart, Deputy Leader of the Lib Dems at Stockport Town Hall and shadow lead for election issues, said: “Any government worth its salt should be working to encourage more people to vote, not making it harder for people to have their say. A government that was confident in the action it was taking would believe it can win the argument and not have to exclude those people least likely to vote for it from the process in a nakedly political attempt to rig the system.”
Local Lib Dem Leader, Cllr Mark Hunter, added: “This has been called ‘a solution looking for a problem’. It is a nakedly political move by this Tory government to try to exclude the younger, the less well-off and those from a minority ethnicity from voting. Of 58 million votes cast in 2019 there were only 33 allegations of impersonation, leading to one conviction and one caution. We urge all our local MPs to support our democracy and act to oppose the government’s proposal.”
The text of the motion to be debated can be read as item 7(i) here:
https://democracy.stockport.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=27426&x=1
