Make your mark for freedom today

DURING the course of this election we have been reminded that democracy is a precious gift, won for us by brave pioneers and defended by heroes.

At the heart of democracy is a belief in the dignity of every individual and a conviction that for a country to function well everyone’s voice must be heard.

The terror attacks were carried out by people who had no respect for the sanctity of human life. The fanatics who massacred the innocent in Manchester and London hated the freedoms that define our society.

Let us use our freedom to vote today. The eyes of the world will be on the UK and people will see men and women in communities across our nations make the journey to the polling station.

People of different political persuasions, income levels, ages and ethnicities will line up together for their ballot paper. This is a beautiful moment.

Democracy is a pooling of wisdom, a recognition that no one party or individual has a monopoly on knowledge. If you believe in democracy, you will want your neighbour to join you in casting a ballot – even if you know that he or she will not vote the same way as you.

This stands in such contrast with the crazed visions that the terrorists want to impose on the world. Democrats believe that people of goodwill from different political traditions can together serve a common good and build a society where diversity is not just tolerated but celebrated.

For most of Wales’ history people have not had the right to vote, and billions of people today are still denied the power to choose a government.

Our story shows the wonderful things that can happen when ordinary men and women gain this freedom. We have sent people to Westminster who pursued ideas others considered too idealistic and ambitious to be practical.

But step by precious step, MPs of different political hues have worked for a fairer and freer society, and candidates across the country have spent recent weeks trying to persuade you to grant them the honour of taking forward that work in Westminster.

Wales should grasp the chance to reclaim its position at the top of the voter turnout league table. There was a time when people in Wales were more likely to vote than their counterparts across Britain.

In 1959 and 1964 Wales was the only UK nation where more than eight out of 10 of the electorate used their hard-won right to vote. In 2015 our turnout (65.7%) was lower than that of England or Scotland.

Let’s put that right and honour those who came before us – and those who work to protect our rights today – by voting.

We have the chance to influence the future of the UK and Europe. The spectacular changes in the Welsh polls in recent weeks suggest there is a new fluidity in our politics and voters could deliver surprises today.

For the parties seeking to get out the vote there is everything to play for. Let’s make our mark today. The Western Mail newspaper is published by Media Wales a subsidiary company of Trinity Mirror PLC, which is a member of IPSO, the Independent Press Standards Organisation. The entire contents of The Western Mail are the copyright of Media Wales Ltd. It is an offence to copy any of its contents in any way without the company’s permission. If you require a licence to copy parts of it in any way or form, write to the Head of Finance at Six Park Street. The recycled paper content of UK newspapers in 2014 was 78.5%