DOUGLAS Ross’s party may have had public issues with their Westminster counterparts in recent weeks, but that didn’t stop them from backing a controversial piece of UK legislation on Monday night.
All six Scottish Tory MPs turned out to vote on the Elections Bill, which will see voters across UK elections required to show an approved form of photo ID before casting their ballot.
Labour’s bid to remove the voter ID section of the Bill was rejected by 327 votes to 234, majority 93.
The Opposition’s new clause to lower the voting age to 16 in UK parliamentary elections was also defeated by 327 votes to 236, majority 91.
READ MORE: Voter ID: Tories follow through with ‘brazen attack on democracy’ as bill is passed
A separate move by the Opposition to prevent overseas electors donating to political parties in the UK was rejected by 322 votes to 237, majority 85.
Democracy campaign group Best for Britain accused the Government of trying to “stack the deck” in favour of itself in future elections.
Naomi Smith, the group’s CEO, commented: “Not only will this Bill allow the government to disenfranchise vulnerable groups to tackle a problem that doesn’t exist, but it also allows them to ban their critics from campaigning and gives them an iron grip over the currently independent elections watchdog.
“Make no mistake, the true aim of this Bill is to silence opposition and stack the deck for future elections. It is a brazen attack on our democracy.”
Dr Jess Garland, director of Policy and Research at the Electoral Reform Society, added: “The Government's Elections Bill proposals are less about improving our democracy than they are an attack on voters’ ability to cast their ballot and have their voice count.”
All six Scottish Conservative MPs supported the bill in Westminster on Monday night. The SNP, Labour, Plaid Cymru, LibDems, SDLP, Alba and Caroline Lucas of the Green Party all rejected it.
Which Tory MPs supported the bill?
Andrew Bowie, MP for Aberdeenshire and West Kincardine
David Duguid (below, centre), MP for Banff and Buchan
Alister Jack, MP for Dumfries and Galloway
John Lamont, MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
David Mundell, MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
Douglas Ross, MP for Moray (MSP for North East Scotland and leader of the Scottish Conservatives)
The SNP's shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Brendan O'Hara MP, has hit out at the party over the move.
“What a week it’s been for the Scottish Tory MPs, with the majority refusing to denounce publicly the Prime Minister’s disgraceful actions, to now voting to restrict the voter franchise," he commented.
“They backed votes at 16 in Holyrood when it passed unanimously, so why then are they taking hypocritical and unjust steps to shut 16 and 17 year olds out of votes at Westminster?
“Last night was a chance for the Scottish Tories to set themselves apart from their scandal-hit government but instead backed it’s despicable efforts to undermine our democracy.
“If this UK government wasn’t already consumed with corruption and sleaze, voting through last night’s Bill confirms it.
“The Electoral Commission must remain entirely independent of government interference – especially one as corrupt and sleaze-ridden as Boris Johnson’s.
“Anything less is a direct assault on the foundations of UK democracy, which is increasingly strained under the current Prime Minister’s premiership.
“Last night’s decision was nothing more than a plot to rig the political process and enable the Tories at Westminster to continue with their endemic sleaze and corruption with impunity. "
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