United Kingdom: ‘Dark money’ is threat to integrity of UK elections, say leading academics | The Guardian

An urgent review of “weak and helpless” electoral laws is being demanded by a group of leading academics who say that uncontrolled “dark money” poses a threat to the fundamental principles of British democracy. A working group set up by the London School of Economics warns that new technology has disrupted British politics to such an extent that current laws are unable to ensure a free and fair election or control the influence of money in politics. Damian Tambini, director of the media policy project at the LSE, who heads the group made up of leading experts in the field, said that new forms of online campaigning had not only changed the ways that political parties target voters but, crucially, had also altered the ability of big money interests to manipulate political debate. “There is a real danger we are heading down the US route where whoever spends the most money is most likely to win. That’s why we’ve always controlled spending in this country. But these controls are no longer working.”

United Kingdom: Scottish Parliament passes motion in favor of referendum on independence | The Washington Post

The Scottish Parliament on Tuesday voted in favor of seeking another referendum on independence, setting the stage for a clash between the British prime minister and the first minister of Scotland. The motion in the semiautonomous Scottish Parliament had been widely expected to pass, with the minority Scottish National Party government and the Scottish Greens supporting it. Advocates for Scottish independence now have parliamentary authority for a referendum. But holding a binding referendum still requires approval from the British government. Prime Minister Theresa May has not ruled out a second referendum, but she has rejected the proposed timetable. The Scottish motion calls for a vote by spring 2019.

United Kingdom: Conservatives fined £70,000 for misreporting election spending | Financial Times

The Conservative party is facing a police inquiry over its election spending and organisation after being fined a record £70,000 for “numerous failures”. The party did not accurately report campaign spending at the 2015 general election and three by-elections in 2014 according to the Electoral Commission, Britain’s elections watchdog. It is the largest ever fine levied by the commission, which has also referred Simon Day, who was party treasurer at the time, to the Metropolitan Police over the incorrect returns. Prosecutors are already considering police files on at least 12 Tory MPs over allegations that they overspent during the election campaign.

United Kingdom: Theresa May dismisses calls for a border poll on a united Ireland | Independent

British Prime Minister Theresa May has said it is not the right time for Ireland to hold a border poll on independence.
Ms May said parties in Northern Ireland should instead be focused on reforming the Executive in the country after the collapse of power sharing. The prospect of a united Ireland has risen as a result of Brexit and the decision by Taoiseach Enda Kenny to announce a referendum to extend voting rights to Irish emigrants. But the Democratic Unionist Party has again reiterated its opposition to a referendum on a united Ireland. DUP MP Nigel Dodds accused Sinn Féin of causing further “uncertainty and division” by its fresh calls for a border poll on Irish unity.

United Kingdom: Sinn Fein wants vote on Northern Ireland leaving UK ‘as soon as possible’ | Today

Northern Ireland’s largest Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein on Monday said it wanted a referendum on splitting from the United Kingdom “as soon as possible”, hours after Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon demanded a new independence vote. Sinn Fein has been regularly calling for a vote for Northern Ireland to leave the UK and unite with the Republic of Ireland since Britain voted to leave the European Union last June while most voters in Northern Ireland voted to remain.

United Kingdom: Russia cyber attackers may target UK elections, warn spies | Business Standard

Spies at the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) have called an emergency summit with Britains political parties after warning them that the next general election is vulnerable to cyber attacks by the Russians. Ciaran Martin, chief executive of GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), has written to leaders of all the main political parties offering expert help to strengthen network security, reported the Sunday Times. In his letter, Martin said: “You will be aware of the coverage of evnts in the United States, Germany and elsewhere reminding us of the potential for hostile action against the UK political system.” He called a “technical seminar” on cyber-security for politicians.

United Kingdom: DUP’s Arlene Foster ‘to stay as Northern Ireland first minister’ | The Guardian

The embattled leader of the Democratic Unionists in Northern Ireland, Arlene Foster, will remain in her post despite her party losing 10 seats in Thursday’s election to the devolved assembly in Belfast, one of her MPs has said. Jeffrey Donaldson insisted that instead of seeking her resignation the focus should be “on Arlene and the party getting a government up and running again at Stormont”. Sinn Féin is now only one seat behind the DUP after a bruising and divisive election caused by Foster’s refusal to temporarily stand down as Northern Ireland’s first minister following a botched green energy scheme scandal which has the potential of costing taxpayers £500,000.

United Kingdom: Northern Ireland election: DUP finish just one seat ahead of Sinn Féin | The Irish Times

Sinn Féin has emerged as the biggest winner in the North’s Assembly election after the party came to within one seat of matching the Democratic Unionist return of 28 seats. In a dramatic shake-up, unionists lost their long-enduring and highly symbolic overall majority in Stormont as the republican party came very close to securing more first preference votes than the DUP. Former first minister Arlene Foster is now likely to come under intense scrutiny after her party fell below the threshold of 30 MLAs required to trigger a contentious Stormont veto mechanism called the “petition of concern”. The mechanism effectively handed the DUP a veto on issues including moves to lift the ban on same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland.

United Kingdom: Northern Ireland election risks return to direct rule from London | Financial Times

Northern Ireland could be subject to direct rule from Westminster if Thursday’s election for the region’s devolved assembly fails to produce a new governing executive. Colum Eastwood, leader of the nationalist, centrist Social Democratic and Labour party, has said the “very idea of power sharing in the north is at risk” in Thursday’s election. Arlene Foster, Democratic Unionist party leader and outgoing first minister, has described the contest as “the most important assembly election in a generation”, saying: “It concerns the very nature of devolution and the future direction of Northern Ireland.” The DUP and Sinn Fein, the Irish republican party, are neck and neck in the race to be the largest party in Stormont, according to the latest opinion polls. But many political leaders in Northern Ireland say it is highly unlikely that they will be able to put together a devolved executive following Thursday’s contest, given the depth of the divisions between them. If the leading parties cannot agree, James Brokenshire, the Northern Ireland secretary, could call another election. But such an outcome is considered unlikely, since it would not necessarily produce a different result.

United Kingdom: Turnout rises in Northern Ireland assembly election | The Guardian

Northern Ireland’s Electoral Office has said that the turnout in Thursday’s assembly election was higher than in last May’s contest when 55% of voters took part. The Stormont assembly collapsed in acrimony earlier this year over a botched green energy scheme that cost taxpayers half a billion pounds. The turnout increase at the second election in 10 months may be in response to voter anger at the way the largest political party in Northern Ireland, the Democratic Unionists (DUP), mismanaged and then stubbornly defended the renewable health incentive scheme.

United Kingdom: Scorpions in a bottle: the fight between Northern Ireland’s two main parties defines another election | The Conversation

Northern Ireland witnessed the seemingly unthinkable in 2007. The Protestant fundamentalist and hardline DUP leader, Ian Paisley sat down alongside alleged former IRA chief Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Féin, to announce that their parties had agreed to share power. Though this unlikely alliance has now survived for 10 years, it remains inherently unstable. Sinn Féin and the DUP are, to invert a famous phrase from George W Bush, a “coalition of the unwilling”. Now, less than a year since the last election, Northern Ireland is again voting for a new assembly. The likely result? Sinn Féin and the DUP will once more be elected the leading parties in their respective communities. And given that the reason for the premature vote was that Sinn Féin and the DUP could not agree on a way forward in the last assembly, stalemate and instability loom again. The trigger for the most recent breakdown was the so-called “cash-for-ash” scandal, relating to a renewable heat incentive scheme established under Arlene Foster, the then minister for enterprise, now DUP leader and – until recently – Northern Ireland’s first minister. The scheme was woefully planned, leading to a likely overspend of £490m for taxpayers to cover.

United Kingdom: Acrimonious Election Campaign Deepens Northern Ireland Deadlock | Reuters

Acrimonious campaigning ahead of Thursday snap elections in Northern Ireland has increased antagonism between pro-British unionists and Irish nationalists and exacerbated fears devolved power may revert to London for the first time in a decade. The power-sharing government collapsed in January after Sinn Fein nationalists withdrew support for Democratic Unionist Party First Minister Arlene Foster after she refused to step aside during an inquiry into a scandal around heating subsidies. Many see the rift as a symptom of a deeper split in the British province between nationalists, balking at the prospect of border posts going up with Ireland after Britain’s exit from the European Union, and Unionists who fear a new push for a united Ireland.

United Kingdom: Election watchdog probes spending by EU referendum campaign groups | The Telegraph

Investigations have been launched into the spending returns of both lead campaigns in last year’s EU referendum, Stronger In and Vote Leave, the Electoral Commission watchdog has announced. New figures reveal that a total of more than £32 million was spent on the campaign, with the Leave side funded by donations totalling £16.4 million outgunning the Remain side’s £15.1 million. The spending returns show that the Brexit battle was the most expensive referendum ever fought in British political history, said the Commission. After its initial inspection of spending returns from both sides, the Commission found that neither Stronger In nor Vote Leave had submitted all the necessary invoices and receipts to back up their accounts. The watchdog also said details of suppliers were missing for some payments.

United Kingdom: Politician accuses Russia of ‘corrupt involvement’ in UK elections amid hacking fears | International Business Times

A UK politician has claimed there is “clear evidence” unspecified Russian forces have directly interfered in British elections, going as far to argue that decisions at the upper echelon of the country’s security services have been “compromised” by Kremlin infiltration. “There is now clear evidence of Russian direct, corrupt involvement in elections in France, in Germany, in the United States of America, and I would argue also in this country,” said Chris Bryant MP, a Labour politician, in the House of Commons on 21 February. In his strongly-worded speech to a half-empty room, he continued: “Many believe that some of the highest level decisions affecting security in the United Kingdom, in Germany, in France and in the United States of America are now compromised by Russian infiltration.”

United Kingdom: Clear evidence Russia interfered in 2015 election, says former Labour minister | The Independent

There is “clear evidence” that Russia interfered directly in UK elections, a Labour former minister has said. Chris Bryant told Parliament some of the top-level decisions affecting security in Britain had also been “compromised by Russian infiltration”. The former Europe minister’s comments came after it emerged that political parties in the UK have approached the security agencies for help following a cyber attack during the 2015 British general election. “There is now clear evidence of Russian direct, corrupt involvement in elections in France, in Germany, in the United States of America, and I would argue also in this country,” said Mr Bryant. “Many believe that some of the highest level decisions affecting security in the United Kingdom, in Germany, in France and in the United States of America are now compromised by Russian infiltration.”

United Kingdom: Northern Ireland assembly elections announced | The Guardian

Elections to a new Northern Ireland assembly will take place on 2 March, James Brokenshire has announced. The Northern Ireland secretary was forced to call the poll after 5pm on Monday when it became clear there would be no 11th-hour deal to bring the Democratic Unionist party and Sinn Féin together to save power sharing in the region. Brokenshire was obliged by law to declare an election date after the deadline this evening, drawning a curtain over nearly a decade of cross-community coalitions between unionists and nationalists. The present assembly will sit until 26 January, when it will be dissolved. The new election takes place just 10 months after the previous one, which resulted in a joint Sinn Féin-Democratic Unionist party government. The devolved administration fell after a row over a bungled green energy scheme and the Democratic Unionist first minister’s refusal to temporarily stand down from her post.

United Kingdom: Northern Ireland election is ‘very likely’, Minister says | Irish Times

Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan has accepted that an Assembly election in Northern Ireland is now “very likely”, following a series of meetings in Stormont on Thursday. The Stormont Assembly effectively collapsed on Monday after Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness resigned as deputy first minister in protest at DUP first minister Arlene Foster’s refusal to step aside temporarily while an inquiry took place into the “cash for ash” renewable heat incentive scheme. The joint terms of the office meant that DUP leader Arlene Foster also ceased to act as First Minister following Mr McGuiness’s resignation.

United Kingdom: Former MI6 chief warns over hacking risk to electronic voting in UK elections | Telegraph

A former head of MI6 has warned against switching elections to electronic voting because of the risk of hacking and cyber attacks. Sir John Sawers said the traditional method of pencil and paper voting in polling booths was more secure than electronic alternatives. The retired spy chief spoke after his successor recently warned that cyber attacks and attempts to subvert democracy by states like Russia pose a fundamental threat to British sovereignty. Fears of high tech meddling in polls have been heightened by American accusations that Kremlin-backed cyber gangs hacked US political organisations and leaked sensitive emails to deliberately undermine the presidential elections. All parliamentary and council elections in the UK are currently carried out with ballot papers, but a commission set up by the speaker, John Bercow, in 2015 called for secure online voting to be available by 2020.

United Kingdom: Online voting could leave British elections vulnerable to hacking, former MI6 head warns | The Independent

Adopting electronic voting systems could leave British elections vulnerable to cyber attack by other countries, the former head of MI6 has said. Sir John Sawers said traditional pencil and paper approaches to voting were “actually much more secure” – following allegations that the recent US presidential election was subject to hacking. “The more things that go online, the more susceptible you are to cyber attacks,” Sir John, who stepped down in 2014, said. “We need to have systems which are robust,” he said in an interview for the BBC documentary The New World: Axis of Power. “The only trouble is, the younger generation of people expect to be able to do things remotely and through electronic devices. “Bizarrely the stubby pencil and piece of paper that you put your cross on in the ballot box is actually much more secure than anything which is electronic.”

United Kingdom: British plan to force voters to show ID provokes a backlash | The Washington Post

The British government said Tuesday that it would begin rolling out mandatory identity checks for voters, prompting a backlash from those who say the move could effectively disenfranchise millions. The controversy, with strong echoes of one that played out across the United States this year, turns on the question of whether identity checks are a reasonable tool to combat electoral fraud or are merely an attempt at voter suppression by another name. Until now, voters in every part of Britain except Northern Ireland have been allowed to vote without presenting an ID. But that will change under a pilot program announced Tuesday by Britain’s Conservative government. A photo ID, such as a driver’s license or passport, will be required in up to 18 different areas across England for local elections in 2018. If the program is successful, it could be expanded nationwide. Britain is next expected to hold national elections in 2020.

United Kingdom: Voter ID proposal could disenfranchise millions, Labour warns | The Guardian

Millions of people may be disenfranchised by the government’s plans to trial asking for ID in order to vote, Labour has said. Cat Smith, Labour’s shadow minister for voter engagement, raised concerns that 7.5% of the electorate may not have the right kind of identification in order to exercise their right to vote. “Labour supports measures to tackle electoral fraud and will be backing a number of the reasonable proposals planned by the government,” she said on Tuesday. “However, requiring voters to produce specific forms of photo ID risks denying millions of electors a vote. “A year ago the Electoral Commission reported that 3.5 million electors – 7.5% of the electorate – would have no acceptable piece of photo ID. Under the government’s proposals, these voters would either be denied a vote entirely, or in other trial areas, required to produce multiple pieces of ID, ‘one from group A, one from group B’.

United Kingdom: Voters in local elections will be required to show ID in anti-fraud trials | The Guardian

UK voters will have to take ID to the ballot box at local elections in pilot areas under new plans to combat electoral fraud. Chris Skidmore, minister for the constitution, announced the trials would start from 2018 after a report on voting fraud by Sir Eric Pickles, the anti-corruption tsar and former communities secretary. Ministers will also consider Pickles’ recommendations about measures to check nationality of voters, creating safe zones around polling stations to stop intimidation, and ending vote “harvesting”, in which postal votes are submitted in bulk. Some of the key recommendations under consideration include a ban on the handling of completed postal ballots by political campaigners, limiting it to family members or carers, and requiring people to reregister for postal votes every three years.

United Kingdom: Britain Mulls Calls for Mandatory Voter ID | CNS

After a government report this summer recommended that British voters be required to provide identification, parliament will consider such a law early in the coming year. A Labour Party critic attributed the proposed legislation to the influence of Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Under a bill introduced by Chris Green, a Conservative MP from the northwestern city of Bolton, all British voters would have to show a photo ID document at polling stations. Green told the House of Commons in late November that as society changes, so traditional standards of trust have to be reassessed. He said the level of voter impersonation at polling stations is by its very nature difficult to gauge, but it appeared to be on the increase, particularly in areas with large, transient populations.

United Kingdom: Hostile states pose ‘fundamental threat’ to Europe, says MI6 chief | The Guardian

The head of the British intelligence agency MI6, Alex Younger, has said cyber-attacks, propaganda and subversion from hostile states pose a “fundamental threat” to European democracies, including the UK. In a rare speech by an MI6 chief while in office, Younger did not specifically name Russia but left no doubt that this was the target of his remarks. Russia has been accused of interfering in the US presidential election and there are concerns it could do the same in French and German elections next year. He did mention Russia in relation to Syria, portraying Russian military support for the country’s president, Bashar al-Assad, in the takeover of Aleppo and elsewhere as potentially creating a long-term problem that could increase radicalisation. “In Aleppo, Russia and the Syrian regime seek to make a desert and call it peace. The human tragedy is heartbreaking,” Younger said.

United Kingdom: Labour fined £20,000 for undeclared election spending including for Ed Stone | The Guardian

Labour has been fined £20,000 by the Electoral Commission, the largest imposed by the body in its history, for undeclared election spending during the 2015 campaign, including more than £7,000 on the so-called “Ed Stone”. The commission launched an investigation into two payments totalling £7,614 missing from the party’s election return that were spent on the stone tablet on which then Labour leader, Ed Miliband, had carved his six key election pledges, promising to display it in the Downing Street rose garden if he won the election. The problems with the party’s spending came to light when the commission published the return in January, and journalists immediately contacted the commission because they could not find any reference to the 8ft 6in, two-tonne slab of limestone. The commission then found the item was indeed missing from the return, and began a full inquiry.

United Kingdom: Tory MPs push for rules to ensure ID checks at polling stations | International Business Times

Tory MPs have urged the Government to get a move on in introducing new rules that would ensure people have to produce ID when they vote. Gary Streeter, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, told the Commons on Thursday the commission has “recommended strongly since 2014” the use of ID at polling stations. He added: “It’s now a matter for Government and for this House to introduce this more robust new provision.” Sir Eric Pickles’ recent review into electoral fraud also backed introducing ID checks when people vote.

United Kingdom: Plans to extend electronic registration to Northern Ireland | BBC

Plans have been announced to allow voters in Northern Ireland to register electronically for elections. Under the proposals, online registration would be rolled out by the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland by 2019. The plans are contained in a joint consultation by the Northern Ireland Office and the Electoral Office. Legislation to introduce electronic registration will be presented to parliament next month.

United Kingdom: May Promises To Lift Expat Vote Ban Before Next Election | Money International

British expats have at long last won the right to vote in the next general election regardless of how long since they have left the country. Prime Minister Theresa May has confirmed she will change the law in time for the expected 2020 poll. Thousands of expats were stopped from voting in the Brexit referendum and the recent general election as current rules bar them from taking part if they have spent more than 15 years living outside the UK. The Electoral Commission estimates that 5.5 million Brits live overseas but only had 106,000 on voting lists for the 2015 general election – the highest number ever recorded. Alex Robertson, director of communications at the Electoral Commission said: “A lot of people aren’t aware that it’s possible to register as an overseas voter for certain UK polls – UK Parliamentary General Elections, European Parliamentary elections. Many people are eligible to vote and now it’s easier than ever to take the first step by going online.”

United Kingdom: Voting turnout gap between old and young widening – report | The Guardian

A combination of demographics and greater turnout gave the baby boomer generation an advantage of 4 million votes over millennials at the last general election, according to a report that warns of a growing inter-generational political divide. With likelihood to vote closely tied to being a homeowner, the turnout gap between younger and old people could increase further, the Resolution Foundation said. The thinktank has analysed turnout figures for every general election since 1964, as part of the work of its Intergenerational Commission, which is trying to understand inequalities between age groups. It found that in 2015, the vote gap between baby boomers (those born between the end of the second world war and the mid-1960s) and millennials (defined here as people born from 1981 to 2000) was a combination of sheer numbers and the fact that the latter were a third less likely to cast a vote. The statistics showed that a total of 10.6 million baby boomers voted in 2015, 67% of the demographic’s population. In contrast, 6.4 million millennials voted, which was 46% of those of voting age.

United Kingdom: Labour plan to expel members who join ‘tsunami of online abuse’ as voting closes in leadership contest | The Telegraph

New Labour members will be required to sign a code of conduct about online behaviour or face being barred from the party in a bid to tackle a “tsunami of online abuse”. Labour now has 551,000 members, reinforcing its position as the largest political party in Europe, but it has been beset with reports of members engaging in abusive exchanges, particularly with so-called “moderate” MPs who have opposed Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. The new policy, agreed by Labour’s National Executive Committee on Tuesday, came hours before voting in the party’s leadership contest came to a close. Any votes received after midday today will not be counted.