A thread 🧵 on the #ElectionsBill. Where are we at?
A reminder, this is (mostly) a deeply authoritarian Bill representing a huge power grab by the Cons. And I mean huge. Unamended, it gives Ministers unprecedented powers and basically ends free and fair elections in the U.K. It’s not hyperbole to say that.
Just listen back to Conservative and cross bench peer speeches in the HoL debate yesterday. No other decent democracy has Gvt interference in elections and over the regulator. I can’t stress enough how bad this Bill is.
Yesterday Lord Judge, convenor of the XB peers led a powerful amendment that defeated the Gvt. The Bill goes to the HoC tomorrow mid afternoon ish where the Con majority will override that defeat.
So begins another round of ping pong. The Bill will probably be back in the Lords late tomorrow. We don’t yet know when it goes back to MPs. Might be tomorrow night, Thurs, or next Tuesday. Maybe even Weds. Gvt desp to get it thru before prorogation.
We know Ministers are working hard to pressure Con peers but also XBers with “assurances” and promises to “consult”. We have seen that before with the Policing Bill. It’s their only play now. Smacks of desperation but might work.
We will know more on timings tomorrow.
Tonight we have seen the opposition fail to beat the Gvt by as few as 5 votes on the Nationality and Borders Bill because late votes mean peers go off for dinner and don’t stay to vote even when whipped.
Tonight we have seen the opposition fail to beat the Gvt by as few as 5 votes on the Nationality and Borders Bill because late votes mean peers go off for dinner and don’t stay to vote even when whipped.
So what can you do? First, make sure you’ve emailed your MP before the Commons votes tomorrow because remember, PACAC doesn’t like this Bill and has Con members. They need to do the right thing, rebel and signal to the Lords they can win hey-mp.uk
Second, you can contact crossbench, Lab and LD peers and remind them to stay for the votes. You can contact Con peers and remind them this stuff wasn’t in the 2019 manifesto and needs pre not post legislative consultation and scrutiny
And finally, you can throw some support at
@BestForBritain. We have worked tirelessly on this Bill and we need resource to keep it up. Our team is amazing. Please show them your thanks if you can 🙏🏼bestforbritain.org/donate
@BestForBritain. We have worked tirelessly on this Bill and we need resource to keep it up. Our team is amazing. Please show them your thanks if you can 🙏🏼bestforbritain.org/donate
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