'Time to shape the faces of local government'

MP for Ellesmere Port

ELECTIONS taking place on Thursday, May 4, are incredibly important for a number of reasons, both locally and across the rest of England.

In our county there are votes for councillors across Cheshire West and Chester, and in Cheshire East too, in elections which are held only once every four years, so it really is the time to shape the faces of local government for the foreseeable future.

Clearly I would like as many eligible voters as possible to either use their postal votes, as many have already done, or go down to their local polling stations. However, my Labour colleagues and I in Parliament are concerned about the risk of electors being turned away from polling booths because they have not brought photographic identification along with them, which is a new Government rule.

These are the first elections where photo ID is a requirement. I have been encouraged in my doorstep conversations with residents that many of them do understand the need to take along photo ID such as a passport, driving licence or bus pass

Nevertheless, I am aware that council staff are bracing themselves to have turn away voters who arrive empty-handed and they will be collating statistics to indicate how many people have been affected.

It is reported that, nationally, just 85,000 people have applied for a free Voter Authority Certificate when an estimated two million people across the UK are thought to have no photo ID. The concern is that these rules have been brought in to tackle a problem (voter impersonation) that doesn’t really exist and will instead lead to more people being unable to vote.

Turning to other issues, at long last Richard Sharp has tendered his resignation at chair of the BBC.

An investigation into his appointment, conducted by Adam Heppinstall KC, found he had "failed to disclose potential perceived conflicts of interest" to a cross-party group of MPs which scrutinised his appointment after failing to disclose his involvement in facilitating an £800,000 loan to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

We have been saying that Richard Sharp should have been sacked long ago. However, while he accepts that he broke the rules, he will still be in post until June until his replacement is appointed.

It is now vitally important that the Government establishes a robustly independent process to find Richard Sharp's successor. Nothing less will be acceptable, the political interference we have seen in the BBChas caused untold damage to the broadcaster's reputation.

SPARE a thought for all the British citizens who have found themselves having to flee the ongoing conflict in war-torn Sudan.

Flights have been organised to transport British people from the Sudanese capital Khartoum to a military base in Cyprus before they make their way back to the UK, but there are understandable concerns that - as was the case during the frightening evacuation of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan - many people will be left behind in truly perilous circumstances.

There have been concerns that many people eligible to be airlifted out of the country have not come forward because they would have to leave members of their family behind. It is a reminder that the world is a much smaller place now and the effects of conflict anywhere are felt globally.