The solution to the virtually nonexistent problem of voter fraud just happens to be one that favours the Tories

“If I am ever asked,” Boris Johnson once wrote of ID cards, “on the streets of London, or in any other venue, public or private, to produce my ID card as evidence that I am who I say I am, when I have done nothing wrong and am simply ambling along and breathing God’s fresh air like any other freeborn Englishman, then I will take that card out of my wallet and physically eat it in the presence of whatever emanation of the state has demanded I produce it.”

Righto. Well, in a plot twist worthy of Dial-A-Plot-Twist, the emanation of the state turns out to be Boris Johnson himself. Yes, despite the warnings and objections of civil liberties campaigners and race equality campaigners – indeed, despite in-person voter fraud being effectively nonexistent in the UK – Johnson’s government is pushing ahead with legislation to introduce mandatory voter ID at elections. We know these plans are illiberal because the traditional hero of a Boris Johnson column – namely, Boris Johnson – has already opposed them.

Continue reading…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

‘Noise, speed, chaos and fuss everywhere’: diary of evacuation from Kyiv

Larisa Kalik documents the Russian invasion of Ukraine and being forced to…

‘You better pray’: Christian nationalist groups are mobilizing before the 2024 elections

‘Patriot’ groups – which deny Trump’s 2020 defeat and are pressing for…

The far right’s triumph in my country reveals a very Swedish brand of intolerance | Gina Gustavsson

During the campaign, political parties on the right and left proved that…

Spanish republicans aim to drown out king’s Christmas speech

People urged to turn off TVs and make noise during address, after…