Voter ID

Ronnie Cowan Excerpts

Thursday 27th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Maclean]

There is no vote rigging going on here. Under the process that has been set out through regulations, when people who are turned away later return to the polling station with accepted ID, which includes many forms of ID that young people are accustomed to carrying because they need to prove their ID on many occasions, such as when going into pubs and clubs and having an alcoholic drink, legally that can be recorded only by a poll clerk or a presiding officer at the issuing desk. If they go into the polling station, the data would be recorded at that point.

[Ronnie Cowan (Inverclyde) (SNP)]

Let me ask a question that was asked earlier. I have grave issues with voter ID, but the Government are going to go ahead in any case, so let me ask a very straightforward question. The people who will be monitoring will perhaps have to turn somebody away, because they have turned up with proof of ID that has an old photograph—the person will think it is representative of them, but it is no longer representative because it is out of date, although apparently still a valid proof of ID. What training will people have had to be able to say to somebody, “You do not have the right to vote here today”?

[Rachel Maclean]

There has been extensive work and engagement with local authorities by the Electoral Commission, the Government and others to make sure that all possible scenarios and processes are followed properly to protect the sanctity of our electoral system.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ronnie Cowan Excerpts

Monday 27th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

Absolutely. Our aim, as always, is to promote brownfield first housing delivery and urban regeneration. It will sometimes be the case that individual planning authorities will designate sites for development that are not brownfield sites. The new NPPF will, I hope, give both communities control and developers certainty.

[Ronnie Cowan (Inverclyde) (SNP)]

4. What discussions his Department plans to hold with the Scottish Government and local authorities on proposals to create an investment zone in Scotland.

[The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Michael Gove)]

My ministerial colleagues and I are in constant contact with our counterparts in the Scottish Government. My officials have had positive discussions so far with the Scottish Government to co-create an approach towards investment zones in Scotland and we will continue to work together to develop an investment zone, or zones, that build on existing Scottish strengths and our shared national strategies.

[Ronnie Cowan]

Given that both the green ports went to the east coast of Scotland, which flies in the face of the well-known convention that west is best, can the Minister assure me that when Inverclyde Council puts together its bid for an investment zone, the Minister will balance that against the devastation caused in the area by the lack of investment over decades by consecutive Labour and Conservative Governments?

[Michael Gove]

Greenock and Port Glasgow are two of the most attractive communities on the west coast of Scotland, but I do have to say that pitting east against west within Scotland is as bad as pitting Scotland against the rest of the United Kingdom. Scotland succeeds when all of us work together. The new Leader of the SNP is simultaneously a Glaswegian and a Dundonian, which is one of his many achievements, and I do believe that we should work together east and west, north and south, in the interests of the whole United Kingdom.

Council Tax

Ronnie Cowan Excerpts

Monday 12th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Ronnie Cowan (Inverclyde) (SNP)]

When we stand for election, every one of us appeals to the electorate to get out and vote. We impress on them how important it is that they use their democratic right to express their will through the ballot box. We want bigger turnouts and we seek more and better engagement, yet voter ID will have a detrimental effect on turnouts. We know that because we can measure it.

The UK Government have tried on several occasions to justify voter identification cards by stating that they already exist within the UK: they are used in Northern Ireland. What they cannot say with any conviction is that they have been a success in Northern Ireland. In fact, the turnout in the first election in Northern Ireland after photographic ID was introduced was 2.3% down. If we extrapolate from the data to a UK general election, approximately 1.1 million people would not vote. That would not fall evenly across the population, so who is it that we are disenfranchising?

Angela Kitching, head of external affairs at Age UK, points out that the Government’s own research has found that 6% of people over 70 would have problems with presenting the right kind of ID. It is reasonable to believe that that estimate is low, because the UK Government did not include the 500,000 people in care homes and sheltered accommodation in their research. It is no surprise that Angela Kitching has described the idea as being “for the fairies”.

The Royal National Institute of Blind People says that

“this will disproportionately disenfranchise blind and partially sighted people, particularly older blind and partially sighted people.”

The Royal Mencap Society has raised concerns that

“voter ID could simply result in yet another barrier to people with a learning disability participating in elections.”

Sense, the national charity that supports people with complex disabilities, has also raised concerns, saying:

“Given the barriers that already face disabled people while voting, Sense is concerned that this could make it harder for some disabled people to vote.”

Concerns have been raised by groups representing LGBTQ+ communities, including the LGBT Foundation, Mermaids and Stonewall. The Runnymede Trust has raised concerns that introducing a voter ID requirement would add further barriers to voting for black and ethnic minority groups.

Those groups should not be disadvantaged. Their votes and their views are not worth less. Pilots have shown that 30% of people who had their ballot paper refused for lack of ID did not return later with an ID to vote. Were all those people trying to impersonate someone? I do not think so.

As has been mentioned, this measure will disproportion-ately impact younger voters. ID such as an Oyster 60+ card is valid, but an Oyster 18+ card is not. Despite the calls for railcards or student IDs to be accepted, the Government have refused.

Of course, change attracts a financial cost. Disappoint-ingly, the UK Government do not know how much this change will cost. Their assessment is £150 million, based on an assumed take-up of 2%, but a UK Government survey found that 31% of people said they would apply for a voter ID card. The impact assessment estimates that an additional £10.2 million should be added for each additional percentage point, which brings the cost of that 31% to £450 million.

In truth, we do not know, because the people surveyed were not informed of the existing photographic ID that would be acceptable, nor were they informed that out-of-date photographic ID would be acceptable. There is more confusion on which we are supposed to legislate: we need a clearer explanation of how having a period of validity for a voter card could work if its expiry date was not a bar to using it for its sole purpose at a polling station.

What is driving this change? Photographic voter ID is supposed to be required to address the issue of personation —occasions when somebody pretends to be another elector and votes on their behalf. We are asking people who work a very long day in polling places to verify visually that each voter looks like the photo ID that they present and, if they are not happy, to refuse that person the right to vote. That is a burden that will weigh heavily on many of those who, until now, have diligently staffed polling places.

For us to go to such lengths as introducing photographic voter ID, placing such a burden on electoral staff and risking disenfranchising 1.1 million voters, personation would have to be a massive problem. Yet, as the right hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Angela Rayner) said, with more than 58 million votes cast in elections in 2019, there were 33 counts of personation at a polling station. As we have heard, that comprises 0.000057%. When we consider the number of people cautioned for or convicted of personation, the proportion is reduced to 0.0000035% of votes cast. This is a sledgehammer looking for a nut to crack. It is a solution looking for a problem. The long and short of it is that this legislation has been pushed through with little substantial evidence of its value.

For as long as Scotland remains part of the United Kingdom and Westminster has the power to affect the voting franchise and the electoral process in Scotland—even if that involves elections to this place—we in the Scottish National party will hold Westminster to account, and will demand that any changes must be transparent, considered, constructive and inclusive. The motion does not satisfy those criteria.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ronnie Cowan Excerpts

Monday 21st November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Dehenna Davison]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising his bid. Again, I cannot comment at this stage on the merits of individual bids, but I am certainly happy to engage with him further on this. I know what a great champion he is for Hazel Grove, and I know he will continue to push for every levelling-up opportunity for his constituents.

[Ronnie Cowan (Inverclyde) (SNP)]

I have heard “shortly” and I have heard “sometime before Christmas”, so I am thinking maybe there is a date in Ministers’ minds here, and I would be grateful if we could have a share of this. In Inverclyde, local government money and Scottish Government money work hand in glove with us to improve the area. We need to know when so that local stakeholders can be involved in this decision process and take the whole thing forward.

Briefly, I say to the Secretary of State that earlier he made a slur on my constituency and the good workforce of Ferguson Marine. If he wants to come to Ferguson Marine with me, and stand toe to toe and make that same remark, I will hold his jacket.

[Dehenna Davison]

I am grateful to the hon. Member for his question, and looking at the Secretary of State I think that point was heard loud and clear.

The hon. Member will know that, in round 1 of the levelling-up fund, the amount that went to Scotland was above the Barnett formula calculations. Round 2 will be coming in due course and I am sure that many people across this House who have been so involved in their bids will have an incredibly happy Christmas.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ronnie Cowan Excerpts

Monday 17th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Stephenson]

We remain absolutely committed to our manifesto commitment to end rough sleeping. According to the latest official statistics, published in February 2020, the number of people sleeping rough is at an eight-year low and has almost halved since 2017. Rough sleeping has now decreased in every region of England. We are committed to continuing the great work of my predecessor and implementing the “Ending rough sleeping for good” strategy, and, as I said earlier, there is £2 billion of funding for the next three years.

[Ronnie Cowan (Inverclyde) (SNP)]

3. How much and what proportion of the £4.8 billion levelling-up fund has his Department allocated to local authorities since that fund was announced in October 2021.

[Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock) (Con)]

4. How many areas have been allocated funding under the levelling-up fund.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Mr Simon Clarke)]

Round 1 of the levelling-up fund saw a total £1.7 billion awarded to 85 lead applicants across 105 bids from the UK. Of this, my Department has awarded £1.24 billion, with £187 million paid out to date. We expect that figure to increase significantly as these projects move through the delivery phases. I expect to announce the outcome of round 2 by the end of this year, with funding decisions based on the framework set out in our levelling-up fund guidance.

[Ronnie Cowan]

Inverclyde has a very strong bid in, but we need maximum co-operation between this UK Government and my Inverclyde Council to ensure that we can line up all the ducks at our end and therefore get a maximum return on the investment. I heard the Minister saying that this would be announced at the end of the year, but last week I was being told that it would be at the end of November, so things seem to be slipping there, which concerns me. When will he tell me that Inverclyde has been successful, and how much money is he going to give me?

[Mr Clarke]

Fond as I am of the hon. Gentleman, I will not give him the money directly, but we will deliver it by the end of the year.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ronnie Cowan Excerpts

Monday 7th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

Yes, we need a council that is composed of simulacra or clones of my hon. Friend. If every Ipswich councillor was as ambitious for Ipswich as he is, Ipswich would not only be in the premier league for football—which it is not at the moment of course—but in the premier league of places to visit in the United Kingdom.

[Ronnie Cowan (Inverclyde) (SNP)]

Seven out of 10 of the most deprived areas in Wales, six out of 10 in Scotland and three out of 10 in England have not received any levelling-up funding. When will the right hon. Gentleman give them that opportunity—when will he publish the timetable and the criteria for the second tranche of money?

Oral Answers to Questions

Ronnie Cowan Excerpts

Monday 24th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Christopher Pincher]

I commend my right hon. Friend and her council for all the sterling work they have done to build the homes in Basingstoke that people need. The important thing is for people to make sure that their local plan is up to date and that they agree a sound plan with the Planning Inspectorate, based on the constraints that there are, to get the number of houses they need. I am very happy to work with her to make sure that that is so.

[Ronnie Cowan (Inverclyde) (SNP)]

The Secretary of State cannot fail to have noticed the number of questions in this session that have centred on the White Paper. Councils around the UK want to know what the timetable is, what the criteria are and when it will be published. Inverclyde wants to apply for this levelling-up funding. Will he help me? Does he want to visit Greenock, so I can show him the projects?

[Michael Gove]

I have spent many happy hours in Greenock and am looking forward to many more. I imagine that time there can only be enhanced, whether in Cappielow or anywhere else, with the hon. Gentleman. The key thing about the levelling-up fund is that constituencies across the United Kingdom, including in Scotland, have benefited. I look forward to working with him and others to ensure that—[Interruption.] As a Morton fan, he will appreciate that patience is a virtue.

Budget Resolutions

Ronnie Cowan Excerpts

Monday 1st November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Ronnie Cowan (Inverclyde) (SNP)]

Levelling up, in itself, is about as close to an acknowledgement as we are ever likely to get from Westminster and, in particular, this Conservative and Unionist Government, that there is a huge gulf in access to wealth and opportunities in the UK. This is not a new thing; it has continued throughout the 21st century. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

At the start of covid, I wrote that we were not all in this together and that the poorest and those living in the areas with the worst deprivation would suffer most and experience a higher mortality rate. Unfortunately, I was right. Six out of 10 people who have died of covid-19 are disabled, and those living in a deprived area are more than twice as likely to die from covid. The chief executive of health thinktank the Health Foundation, Jennifer Dixon, said:

“Covid-19 is not a great leveller—the pandemic is having an unequal impact on our already unequal society.”

Therefore, it is clear that this great act of benevolence, “levelling up”, is long overdue and is required because large areas of our society have been neglected for a long time. Areas such as my constituency of Inverclyde have suffered long before the shipyards closed under Thatcher: all she did was pile misery on top of despair. The labour-intensive industries paid poorly and worked men and woman into early graves, and as those industries died we never adjusted to develop employment that was rewarding either financially or for our wellbeing. As a result, inequality remains rife, and patching will not fix it.

It should come as no surprise that many people believe that levelling up is no more than a bribe to endear the Government to the electorate prior to the next general election, which is currently scheduled for after the new boundaries are put in place. Of course, with his old powers reinstated, the Prime Minister can effectively call a general election anytime he likes. Buying seats is one way to prop up a Government.

As MPs, we will look at our constituencies and always be able to find ways of investing in and improving them. Some constituencies will need more than others, which is why the funding should go to the most in need. Some people, including the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, have questioned that I, as an SNP MP, am willing to appeal to Westminster to fund projects in Inverclyde: does this not prove that we are better together? It is really very simple—we have been paying into Westminster for all these years while our industries were left to wither and die, and it is high time we got something back.

In Inverclyde we have two excellent projects for which I will pitch for funding. The first is a culture quarter that will host artists, creatives and artisans. It will be close to the ocean terminal, where we welcome 150,000 cruise passengers every year, and it will save two existing buildings of incredible heritage from destruction. Inverclyde council will also be looking for funding to improve the transport system around the town centre. I could of course be petulant and turn my back on these opportunities, but my heart is in Inverclyde and the prosperity of the people, and I will not miss out on any opportunity that can improve Inverclyde. Councillor Liz Robertson reminded me of a story about General Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, who, when he was asked about dubious funds being used by his charity, is reported to have said, “I shall take all the money I can get, and I shall wash it clean with the grateful tears of widows and orphans.” The shame is that 155 years later we still have such inequality in our society, and that runs throughout this very disunited kingdom.