The report of the @CampaigningAPPG is being launched in parliament this afternoon. APPG chair, @SKinnock, started off by explaining how electoral campaign transparency is bigger than Brexit, we need to guarantee our electoral rules are enforced and the process is transparent
SK outlined the key three areas considered by the APPG and around which its 20 recommendations were made: 1. Transparency; 2. Deterrence (e.g. ensuring fines are no longer seen as the "cost of doing business"); 3. Monitoring.
.@SKinnock said the APPG will now be working to build support in parliament for the report's findings and recommendations, and lobby the government so that action will be taken.
Deirdre Brock of the SNP, one of the members of the APPG, said that, while this report can't be the answer to everything, it is the start of a consideration around our outdated campaign rules. She called for fast action and urgent legislation around these issues #savedemocracy
Both Deirdre Brock & @CarolineLucas emphasised the importance of personal rights & ensuring appropriate use of personal data. Citizens need to know how their data is being used, by whom, and for what purposes. E.g.People should need to give explicit permission for it to be sold
.@CarolineLucas said the @CampaigningAPPG report is one of the most important reports ever published by an APPG - defending our democracy is something we urgently need to do and it's good it's increased on the political agenda, as we can't take our democracy for granted
Finally, Craig Westwood of the @ElectoralCommUK spoke about the recommendations which the EC has also been calling for: 1. Extending imprints to online election material (which the EC has been calling for since 2003!); 2. Increasing fines for election offences; (cont.)
3. Giving the EC prosecution capabilities; 4. Clarifying the split between national/party and local/candidate spend.
Westwood concluded by saying that the APPG's report highlighted new territory which could be explored and that we should look into reforming our electoral law.
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As always, the parliament we ended up with looked nothing like the way we voted - this is because Westminster's voting system warps the results.
With First Past the Post, minuscule changes in the vote can have major impacts. The Conservatives gained a 7% increase in seats from 2017 – on a 1% increase in vote share - delivering their largest majority since 1987. The Lib Dems increased their vote share, but lost a seat.
As results are announced today for councils across the country, we are already starting to see some wildly disproportionate results.
It doesn't have to be like this, when Scottish council results are announced later, the seats each party get will be in proportion to how many people voted for them - as they don't use first past the post. ers.tools/local-democracy
The #ElectionsBill, which passed last night, will make it harder to vote for millions, while making it easier for the government to control the Electoral Commission. It’s a travesty that parliamentarians passed a Bill that erodes our precious democracy. mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…
The law will only make it harder for some people - older people can use bus passes and 60+ Oyster cards as valid forms of ID - but young people’s railcards, and student Oyster cards will not be permitted. bigissue.com/news/politics/…
The government overrode a compromise amendment, suggested by a Conservative Peer, that would have expanded the list of acceptable IDs - instead they adopted their own arbitrary and restrictive list.
The #ElectionsBill is having its second reading in the House of Lords today - there is a lot wrong with this bill, from spending millions to make it harder to vote, to reducing the independence of our Electoral Commission.
Around 2.1 million people lack the necessary identification for their voter ID scheme, according to the government’s own research. Checking millions of documents and supplying ID will cost up to £180 million a decade electoral-reform.org.uk/expensive-vote…
Poll workers will have the power to turn voters away if they think an old photo doesn't look enough like them. Unlike border police, poll workers are not specially trained to do this sort of work. Growing a beard or getting a bold haircut shouldn't disenfranchise you.
Following the retirement of Viscount Ridley there is going to be a Conservative hereditary peer by-election. The 45 Conservative hereditary peers in the Lords will be voting to select who will get a seat in the Lords for life as his replacement. parliament.uk/globalassets/d…
Candidates, drawn from a list of Conservative hereditary peers outside the Lords, submit short, often bizarre, statements such as the below to garner support.
This time though, one candidate has gone a bit further than usual, submitting a peculiar YouTube search link as his statement... youtube.com/results?search…