SLOUGH's ruling Labour council has been accused of the 'worst kind of political interference' after it backtracked on a pledge to be part of a national trial to fight electoral fraud.

Slough Borough Council had unanimously agreed in January to be part of a central government pilot to introduce identity checks at next year's council elections.

If successful, the checks could be introduced nationwide to tighten up identity fraud at polling stations.

But last night (Thursday) the ruling Labour party, which has 27 more members than the Tories, sensationally whipped its councillors into rejecting the pilot - amid claims it could prevent the poor and minority groups from voting.

A handful of Labour members stormed out of the meeting, refusing to toe the party line, while some stayed to abstain. All seven Tories voted that the council should take part in the pilot, which they themselves had put forward in a motion in January.

Slough Conservative leader, Wayne Strutton, said the council had 'further embarrassed its reputation' by refusing to take part - just two weeks after the government had announced the authority would be involved.

Cllr Rayman Bains (Con, Upton) called the move 'disgraceful' and said Labour had let the town's residents down and wasted the time of the authority's Returning Officer, Catherine Meek. Ms Meek had been working with the Cabinet Office to finalise the details of the trial and research best practice – including lessons learnt from fraud at Tower Hamlets – Cllr Bains said.

Meanwhile, Minister for the Constitution, Chris Skidmore, who is leading on the trial for the government, told The Observer: "It is disappointing that Labour councillors have voted to block this pilot taking place.

"Council officials in Slough have been working closely with us on their proposals for testing voter ID, and I was struck by their enthusiasm to participate in the pilot when I met with them this summer.

"Now they have been over-ruled as a result of the worst kind of political interference, which is putting ideology above the need to safeguard our elections process.

"It seems Labour are actively blocking measures that have the backing of the independent Electoral Commission and were introduced by Labour in Northern Ireland. This decision risks Labour being seen nationally as the party which turns a blind eye to electoral fraud."

Shocked and lost for words

Cllr Bains said: "I was shocked yesterday, I was lost for words. They have pulled the entire pilot which is the most extreme option. The amount of money that was spent in terms of officers' time too."

Cllr Strutton claimed the move was adopted by Labour to align itself with its national position on the trial. But he said it was Slough that would lose out, following episodes of electoral fraud reported in 1998 and 2007, leading to the name 'Sleazy Slough'. He said: "Last night was not supposed to be about the national situation. It was to improve the sordid reputation that this town has."

The pilot, which will still go ahead in four other areas including Tower Hamlets, comes after Sir Eric Pickles published his report last year into tackling electoral fraud, where Slough's 2007 fraud episode was listed as 'significant'.

Currently voters can just give their names without any identification before casting a vote and Sir Eric said international observers had warned the UK's system was "peculiarly vulnerable" to fraud because it is a trust-based system.

Under the trial, electors will be required to bring ID to prove who they are before voting, as already happens in Northern Ireland. There are options of photo ID or non photo ID in the trial, where documents such as bills and bank statements could be produced alongside birth or marriage certificates.

Trial 'not consultative enough'

But deputy leader, Cllr Sabia Hussain (Labour, Central), said the party had thought that the trial would be more consultative – when in reality there were only two options to choose from.

She claimed Cabinet Office had been telling the authority what to do which was not what local democracy was about.

She added: "It (an ID check) does disenfranchise minority groups, young people and people from minority incomes."

Cllr Bains said Labour had been 'fully consulted' and had had three members on a Steering Group to address the pilot arrangements with Ms Meek. Additionally, he said Cabinet Office would have funded a free ID card system especially for voters during the pilot.  

Following the decision, Labour issued statements to the media including one from new Slough MP Tan Dhesi, who had spoken out against the pilot on BBC Radio Berkshire just two weeks ago.

He said: “The government’s plans for restrictive ID requirements for voters won’t stop determined fraudsters, but risk instead making it harder for people to vote and reducing turnout and excluding some parts of the electorate.

"The introduction of photo ID would have a particular impact on lower incomes - according to the Electoral Commission, 3.5 million electors do not have photo ID.

"Though incidences of impersonation are rare, such as they occur, the answer is more resources for the police, so they can investigate and prosecute.”

Councillor Sohail Munawar, council leader said: “Electoral fraud is a serious crime and it is vital that the police have the resources they need to bring more prosecutions like the one brought in Slough in 2007.

"In withdrawing from this pilot, we are not closing the door to working with the government to protect the integrity of the vote in Slough. All councillors want to make our democratic process as secure as possible, but in doing so we must not restrict a persons right to vote.”

Cllr Hussain added: “Everyone in Slough is well aware of the impact of electoral fraud, and it’s right we look at further ways to protect the integrity of our electoral system.

"However, this pilot offers the worst of both worlds: making it harder for most people to vote while not preventing those who really are trying to defraud the system from doing so.”