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From suppressing votes to gagging workers and communities, the elections bill is an assault on our hard-won rightsAngela Rayner is the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, and deputy Labour leaderNext week the government will try to reverse centuries of democratic progress in this country. The Conservatives’ elections bill – copied and pasted straight out of the Donald Trump playbook – is a blatant attempt to rig democracy in the favour of the Conservative party by suppressing votes, gagging organised opposition and neutering our independent electoral watchdog.The government argues that its plans to bring in voter ID would combat voter fraud, but the truth is that widespread voter fraud just doesn’t exist. For all UK elections in 2019 – including a relatively high turnout general election, in which 32m votes were cast – there was just one conviction for voter “personation”. Instead, US civil rights groups have warned that the government’s voter ID plans will “allow politicians to choose their voters” as the new measures would disenfranchise millions of voters. Continue reading...