ID’S a cynical idea

The latest Tory proposals for voter ID laws to combat alleged fraudulent electoral irregularities are a massive con trick. These have been imported straight from the USA. The Republican party have whipped up a storm about fraud in order to justify bringing in Voter ID laws.

These tactics were first enunciated in 1980 by Paul Weyrich, founder of the modern Conservative movement in America. He gave a speech to a rally in which he said: “I don’t want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people. They never have been from the beginning of our country, and they are not now. As a matter of fact our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.”

Most investigations have found virtually no evidence of US voter fraud. The effect of these laws have been to purge millions of Black and Latino voters from the rolls in swing states. These tactics delivered the White House for George W Bush in 2000 and 2004 and have also helped Donald Trump get elected in 2016.

Voter ID laws would merely stop one person from casting one vote. The vote would be inconsequential. The Tory proposals will have the effect of disenfranchsing hundreds of thousands – possibly millions – of working class and ethnic minorities who are less likely to vote Tory. It is an attack on the democratic process and should be vigorously opposed.

ALAN HINNRICHS Gillespie Terrace, Dundee