Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:23 pm on 26 January 2022.
Diolch, Llywydd. I move the amendment tabled on behalf of the Welsh Conservatives in my name.
I have to say, I was a little bit disappointed by the tone of Rhys ab Owen's speech there, and it feels a little bit like groundhog day today, because, of course, we had basically the same debate just a couple of months ago, tabled by the Welsh Government. But, of course, it shouldn't surprise me any more that Plaid, as the—. He was accusing us of being lapdogs of No. 10, but Plaid are the lapdogs, of course, of the Welsh Labour Party. You're in a co-operation agreement with the Welsh Labour Party and, effectively, in coalition. So, it's a bit rich, frankly, Rhys ab Owen, of you to accuse us of being other people's lapdogs, when, quite frankly, we've seen plenty of evidence in the Siambr today, this virtual Siambr, of the fact that that is precisely what you and your colleagues are in terms of the Labour Party.
In spite of the song and dance that you've made about the provisions of the UK Government's Elections Bill, the reality is that most voters out there are astonished at the fact that you're opposing what are perfectly sensible measures to bring forward safeguards against voter fraud that will strengthen the security of our elections across the whole of the UK. And instead of opposing the sorts of provisions that are in this Elections Bill, including voter ID, which I'll come on to in a moment, why on earth would you want to oppose measures against undue influence? Why on earth would you want to oppose measures against the intimidation of voters? Because they're some of the other provisions that you and the Welsh Government are currently opposing in the Bill. We all know that election fraud is a heinous crime of which every single person in this Chamber and this country has been a victim.