Labour Group member motion

Oxford City Council recognises the fundamental principles of a healthy democracy are rooted in ensuring elections are fair and accessible for all voters.

Oxford City Council notes with concern that the Elections Bill is set to bring in major changes to national elections, including the introduction of compulsory photographic ID to vote. Currently 3.5 million people in the UK do not have any form of expensive photographic ID.

Council notes that the number of people convicted of voter fraud in 2017 was 1, while the number of mostly working class people struggling and living in poverty that are expected to be disenfranchised by the introduction of voter ID is 2 million.

Council notes that it is estimated that these changes will cost the taxpayer £180 million and will create unnecessary bureaucracy to Councils and people wishing to vote.

Council believes that at a time when voter turnout is declining, we should be doing all we can to make it easier not harder for people to vote.

Council recognises that voter fraud is a problem that does not exist, and this government’s attempts to raise the threshold to vote under the guise of combatting crime is taken straight out of the Trump playbook. They will provide significant barriers for people participating in our democracy and disproportionately disenfranchise the poorest and most marginalised.

In conjunction with the Immigration and Borders Bill, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, and the Judicial Review Bill, the changes in the Elections Bill are taking the UK down a worryingly authoritarian path. Together, they aim to silence dissent and further disenfranchise the most marginalised, vulnerable and voiceless in society – in particular those from poorer communities, asylum seekers and those from minoritized communities.

These rights are not only the bedrocks of democracy but are the same rights which the Suffragettes and the Chartists used to win us our rights.

These draconian bills have been introduced at a worrying pace and during the unprecedented conditions of the pandemic. This has provided this government with the opportunity to avoid scrutiny and opposition as they water down our rights to hold the government and public institutions accountable, cut off public access to information, deprive people of citizenship without notice, and criminalise those fleeing persecution for seeking sanctuary.

Oxford City Council doesn’t want to see people being turned away at the ballot box because of these changes and resolves to support the #HandsOffOurVote campaign by:

1.    Requesting that the Leader writes to Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

2.    Requesting that the Leader writes to Anneliese Dodds MP and Layla Moran MP asking them to raise these concerns in Parliament.

Cllr Djafari Marbini, seconded by Cllr Arshad, accepted her own amendment and proposed her revised motion with the amendment as set out in the briefing note.

Cllr Wade joined the meeting.

After debate and on being put to the vote the motion was agreed.

Council resolved to adopt the following motion:

This Council notes that current bills going through Parliament are taking the UK down a worryingly authoritarian path which would have the effect of silencing dissent, rolling back access to justice, and further disenfranchising the most vulnerable in society; those from poorer communities, asylum seekers, and those from minoritised communities. These bills include the Election Bill, the Policing Bill, the Nationality and Borders Bill, and the Judicial Review and Courts Bill.

This raft of oppressive legislation has been introduced at pace during an unprecedented pandemic and, if passed, would severely reduce our rights to hold the government and public institutions accountable, cut off public access to information, make it harder to challenge injustice in court, and create dangerous new powers to deprive people of citizenship without notice and criminalise those seeking sanctuary.

The Election Bill uses the pretext of voter fraud (despite a near total absence of evidence) to further silence those who suffer most, whilst the Policing Bill criminalises GRT communities, threatens the freedoms of assembly, association and expression, and shuts down routes for us all to hold the government to account (routes that the Chartists and the Suffragettes used to win us our right to universal suffrage, which was fiercely opposed by the Establishment for many decades). 

These hard-won rights and freedoms form the bedrock of our democracy and must be defended. 

In particular, Oxford City Council recognises the supreme importance of ensuring that elections are fair and accessible for all voters.

The Council notes with concern that the Elections Bill is set to bring in major changes to national elections, including the introduction of compulsory and expensive photographic ID. It is estimated that these changes will cost the taxpayer £180 million and will create unnecessary bureaucracy for Councils and people wishing to vote.

Oxford City Council believes that this change will function as a barrier to people voting and increase inequality in the electoral process. There are currently an estimated 3.5 million people in the UK who do not have any form of photographic ID. This includes at least two million people struggling in poverty. By contrast, out of 32 million votes cast in the last general election, there was just one person convicted of voter impersonation. 

This Council believes that, at a time when voter turnout is declining, we should be doing all we can to make it easier not harder for people to vote.

Oxford City Council doesn’t want to see people being turned away at the ballot box because of these changes and resolves to support the #HandsOffOurVotecampaign by:

1.    Requesting that the Leader writes to Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

2.    Requesting that the Leader writes to Anneliese Dodds MP and Layla Moran MP asking them to raise these concerns in Parliament.

3.    Working with affected communities to amplify voices of protest and to mitigate, where possible, the effects of pernicious legislation.