Monday, April 04, 2005
Banana republic
The verdict of the judge in the Birmingham vote-rigging trial was as damning as was expected. He has ordered that the election in two wards should be re-run following his finding that there was "widespread fraud" in six Birmingham council seats won last year by Labour. He accused the government of being not only complacent, but "in denial", about the failings of the system. He concluded that the evidence of electoral fraud he had heard would disgrace a banana republic.
Judge Mawrey added, as part of his ruling, that "The systems to deal with fraud are not working well. They are not working badly. The fact is that there are no systems to deal realistically with fraud and there never have been. Until there are, fraud will continue unabated." Central to that was the role of the Police. In Birmingham, as elsewhere they have not taken these matters seriously even where there is overwhelming evidence. That must change or we really will become a banana republic as far as our electoral system is concerned.
Judge Mawrey added, as part of his ruling, that "The systems to deal with fraud are not working well. They are not working badly. The fact is that there are no systems to deal realistically with fraud and there never have been. Until there are, fraud will continue unabated." Central to that was the role of the Police. In Birmingham, as elsewhere they have not taken these matters seriously even where there is overwhelming evidence. That must change or we really will become a banana republic as far as our electoral system is concerned.
