BORIS Johnson has been branded a “tin-pot” dictator after refusing to reconsider “vote-rigging proposals” to reform ID laws.

Ian Blackford took aim at Conservatives over the Elections Bill, which was tabled on Monday.

It aims to ensure elections are “secure, modern and fair” by making it mandatory to carry identification while casting a ballot.

Opponents have warned the legislation could disenfranchise millions of people who do not have the necessary documentation, and could cost the taxpayer about £40 million over the next decade.

Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Blackford said: “This week the Tory government introduced its so-called Electoral Integrity Bill. In reality, this bill is designed to do anything but increase the integrity of our elections. It is a solution in desperate search for a problem that does not exist.

“What this bill will do is impose – for the first time – Trumpian Voter ID laws on the UK. The Electoral Reform Society says it could lead to voter ‘disenfranchisement on an industrial scale’. Disenfranchising people from working class communities, BAME communities and other already marginalised groups in society – creating barriers to vote.

“Prime Minister – why is this Tory government trying to rob people of their democratic right to vote?"

Johnson insisted that the legislation was designed to protect people’s democratic right to a “one-person, one-vote” system.

“I think it is important that we move to some sort of voter ID,” he said. “Plenty of other countries have it and I think it’s eminently sensible. People will be reassured that their votes matter. That’s what this bill is about.”

“Goodness gracious,” Blackford replied, highlighting that there were only 34 allegations of voter impersonation in 2019.

He continued: “This is a British Prime Minister seeking to make it harder to vote, because it’s easier to get re-elected if the Government can choose their voters, rather than letting the voters choose their government.”

The SNP MP pointed out that 3.5 million people in the UK do not have a form of photo ID, while 11m people do not have a passport or driver’s licence.

“These millions of people will be directly impacted by seeing their right to vote curtailed,” Blackford added. "And it’s not just the opposition saying this, members of the PM’s own party have called his plans 'an illogical and illiberal solution to a non-existent problem'.”

He asked: “Will the PM withdraw these vote-rigging proposals immediately or he will continue down the path of a tin-pot dictator?”

The question prompted hilarity on the Tory benches, with Johnson claiming that Blackford was making a “mountain out of a molehill”.

“Councils will be under obligation to provide free ID to anyone that wants it and I do think it reasonable to protect the public in our elections from the idea of voter fraud. Nobody wants to see it … I don’t think elections in this country should be in any way clouded by the suspicion of voter fraud.”