NEW LAW THREATENS THE RIGHT TO VOTE

Barrister Sunny Virk stressed the threat to the right to vote whilst speaking at the Liberal Democrat AGM in Bromsgrove on Thursday (24 November).

New laws introduced by the Conservative government mean that for the first time ever in Bromsgrove, voters will need to bring evidence of identity when casting their vote. The Liberal Democrats are highlighting the need for voters to be made aware of the new requirements to prevent voters being turned away on polling day during the local elections next year.

There have previously been trials over new ID requirements across the country, with the trials showing that 2000 people were turned away for not having ID with 750 people not returning.

Bromsgrove Lib Dem Chair Dr David Nicholl criticised the new law stating: "This new law will be discriminatory against those groups less likely to have ID, with the potential to disenfranchise up to a million voters. For example, student ID will not be acceptable, whereas an older persons bus pass is acceptable."

Sunny, who is the Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for Tamworth, the seat of Chris Pincher, also highlighted the threat from the erosion of civil liberties by the Conservatives. This follows the introduction of recent laws criminalising protests that are deemed too noisy, stripping back the powers of courts to hold bodies accountable under judicial review, and an expansion of powers for the Home Secretary to strip away British citizenship without informing the individual in question.