🚨THIS IS A DEMOCRATIC EMERGENCY🚨
The government’s utterly terrifying Elections Bill is back in parliament today. Here’s everything you need to know about the bill and the voting tonight. 🧵1/15
Along with the Policing Bill, Borders Bill, changes to both Judicial Review and the Official Secrets Act, the #ElectionsBill is part of the government’s attack on democracy and accountability in the UK.

With it they want to rig elections in their favour. 2/15
Working with peers and MPs, we’ve helped force the government into major concessions on the bill - including removing proposals that would have given ministers the power to ban campaigners they don’t like during elections. 3/15
BUT the worst part is still in there.

Clauses 14 & 15 would effectively give the government control of the UK’s independent elections watchdog, allowing them to influence how the rules during elections apply to them and their rivals. 4/15
Putting Ministers, most of whom stand for election, in charge of the Electoral Commission is like letting a fox guard the henhouse, or letting one team in a football match tell the referee what to do.

What’s worse, the government has given NO justification for it. 5/15
Conservative MPs have pretty much admitted this is revenge for the Electoral Commission investigating the Conservative Party and Vote Leave.

Imagine what they’ll try to get away with if they run it 😱😱😱 6/15
On Monday, with the help of Best for Britain, Peers backed an amendment which would remove this part of the bill, meaning MPs voted on it again today.

The Government used their majority to win by 306 votes to 215 in the Bill, and sent it back to the Lords. 7/15
This is a process aptly known as “ping pong”, where votes will be held by MPs and then by Lords until either the Lords give up, or the Government removes these parts of the bill.

But this is where it gets interesting... 8/15
Because of the May elections, this session of Parliament must end next week.

If the Lords can hold the line until then, the government will run out of time and the entire bill will be scrapped! 9/15
The Lords are expected to vote again at around 18:30 today. So let’s wargame what happens next. 10/15
👉Scenario 1:

Despite beating the government 265-199 on Monday, it could be that too few Peers vote against the Bill.

It could pass today and the government will be in charge of the elections watchdog very soon. We've been working hard to ensure enough of them show up! 11/15
👉Scenario 2:

Enough Peers hold strong 💪

The Bill goes back to MPs tonight after which the ping pong process continues, with the Bill going back to MPs for yet another vote, and so on potentially into next week when they will hit that deadline. 12/15
🔧Spanner in the works🔧

At any time the government could force Parliament to sit very late in the hope enough Peers won't be around to vote against them. They did this yesterday with the Policing Bill.

The result - protest will soon effectively be outlawed in the UK. 13/15 Image
This is why it’s so important that opposition and cross bench Peers and MPs stay strong.

We must fight to protect the most basic part of our democracy - free and fair elections.

Our polling shows that ONLY 8% of people support the government's plans. 14/15 Image
🏔️Final cliffhanger:

If the Lords let them win, the Government is getting ready to pull the plug and prorogue Parliament TOMORROW.

Stay tuned. 15/15

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More from @BestForBritain

Apr 27
Lord Judge welcomes Gvt’s overtures on Electoral Commission but says still doesn’t address the independence or perceived independence of the regulator. #ElectionsBill
Judge : In context of electoral bill should explain plainly and clearly that EC won’t be bound by the Secretary of State’s opinion
Judge: I urge this house to send this amendment back to the Commons for them to decide whether or not the EC should be an
Independent body with an independent function
Read 24 tweets
Jan 17
🚨BREAKING🚨: Best for Britain's #PolicingBill amendment protecting your right to protest outside Parliament has just been passed in HoL. MPs will now be asked to vote on it. bestforbritain.org/best_for_brita… 1/4
“While it’s not our only objection to this Bill, this victory should give hope to everyone who believes that civil rights are not a partisan issue and that no government should be allowed to silence the people they represent." - B4B CEO @pimlicat 2/4
"I hope MPs will support the right for large peaceful protests to continue to take place in Parliament Square and recognise that the Policing Bill needs to be amended so that permission can be given for these protests to go ahead." - Lord Colville who tabled the amendment 3/4
Read 4 tweets
Jan 17
The Policing bill must be amended to protect the right to protest and end the slippery slope towards authoritarianism. - @rosaltmann 1/
politicshome.com/thehouse/artic…
Britain as a nation has a heritage of standing up to despots and providing sanctuary to the oppressed. Yet the PCSC bill threatens this heritage by impeding our democratic right to freedom of speech and expression. 2/
Britain rightly gave safe haven to pro-democracy protesters from Hong Kong but - “I fear those arriving to our shores from Hong Kong may quickly recognise shadows of repression which they have just escaped.” - @rosaltmann 3/
Read 12 tweets
Dec 21, 2021
Three small businesses share their stories of the first year after Brexit...👇1/
ft.com/content/bc0563…
For Kiran Tawadey, owner of the Hampstead Tea company, it has been a heartbreaking decision but on January 1 she will shut down her UK manufacturing operation as a result of border bureaucracy brought in by Brexit. Five full-time employees will be made redundant. 2/
“We couldn’t hire a new manager or a forklift driver; costs in the UK were going through the roof. It all suddenly became clear." She added clients in Japan, Australia and the rest of the world are now also increasingly requesting to be serviced out of the EU hub. 3/
Read 11 tweets
Dec 7, 2021
"Progressives ought to embrace strategic voting with a vengeance next week to weaken Mr Johnson’s position."

Yes. Cooperation between progressive parties needs to start now to be able to oust this Government at the next general election. 1/
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Our analysis shows fielding unity candidates between Labour, the Lib Dems and Greens in 154 battleground constituencies in England would relegate the Conservatives to just 254 of 533 seats in England, leaving them 40 seats short of a majority & unable to form a government. 2/
This is the case even if the Conservatives were to hold their 20 Scottish and Welsh seats and gain the support of the DUP’s 8 MPs.

So Labour would only need to step back in 26 seats where the Lib Dems have greater support to oust this government at the next general election. 3/
Read 15 tweets
Nov 23, 2021
Did you miss Secretary of State for International Trade & President of The Board of Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan's speech yesterday?

If you did, don't worry - we've fact checked it so you don't have to. 1/
Firstly, she celebrates Britain's leadership in creative industries - something her own government is damaging with its refusal to solve the post-Brexit problems impacting the sector. 2/
independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
All year those industries have actively spoken out against the Government's Brexit policies for the damage they’ve done. 3/
tradeandbusiness.uk/news/governmen…
Read 12 tweets

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