8. Plaid Cymru Debate: The UK Government's Elections Bill

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:25 pm on 26 January 2022.

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Photo of Darren Millar Darren Millar Conservative 5:25, 26 January 2022

And the reality is that it is a crime we'll all be victims of again and again if the UK Government and the Welsh Government don't take action to combat it. 

You made reference, Rhys ab Owen, to the relatively few cases of voter fraud that have been identified in recent years, but the fact that more haven't been identified doesn't mean that it's not happening, because of course the nature of fraud means that it very often goes unnoticed, undetected and unrecorded. But where it has been discovered, sometimes it's been on an industrial scale. We've seen terrible cases of fraud in Tower Hamlets, Slough, Birmingham and elsewhere, and it has exposed weaknesses in election arrangements that any responsible Government would want to address. That is what the UK Government is seeking to do with its Elections Bill. 

This is going to stop the theft of people's votes by requiring voters to present photo ID when they turn up to a polling station. It will address weaknesses in the postal and proxy vote arrangements. And with regard to voter ID, I know that you're up in arms about this provision, and so is the Labour Government, but of course it was a Labour Government that brought in voter ID in Northern Ireland, where it works perfectly well, and we know that, very often, in Labour party meetings, I think it's true to say to my Labour colleagues at this virtual Senedd this afternoon, many times you have to produce your membership card in order to vote.