The Conservatives have announced that they intend to bring in new legislation which will require voters to produce photo ID before voting. This is a move towards the voter suppression measures adopted by Republicans in the United States which are intended to bar people who are less likely to support them from voting. There is no evidence of significant voter fraud anywhere in the United Kingdom.
About a quarter of voters have neither a passport nor a driving licence, which is unsurprising as it costs at least £75.50 to renew a passport. Younger voters are less likely to drive for environmental reasons, as are those living in cities. Some estimate that 48% of black voters have no ID. A lot of older voters will also see no reason to have either a driving licence or passport. Most of all this will affect poorer voters, meaning that those most in need of government services will have no say in how they are delivered.
Together with the attacks on the right to participate in a demonstration, these measures are straight out of the playbook of such dubious leaders as Donald Trump and Turkey’s President Erdogan. We need to mobilise resistance fast.