Democracy is threatened

We talk often of our British belief in fair play.

Yet with the Trade Union Bill this Government is putting these values at risk.

We’ve already seen it make it harder to register to vote.

Soon it will re-draw the Parliamentary map in a way that, as far as I am concerned, benefits the Conservative Party.

Furthermore, hidden in the Trade Union Bill, is a clause that is deliberately designed to cut off trade unions’ financial support for the Labour Party, while doing nothing to limit the hedge funds and millionaires that support the Tories.

It is attacking democracy by silencing opposition – whether it’s from unions, campaigners, or charities – and by changing the rules to make it harder for anyone else to win an election.

As the House of Lords debates the Bill over the next weeks, I can only hope the Government will take the opportunity to embody the values of democracy and decency it claims to support, and drop these unfair proposals.

Ken Low,

Alnwick Close,

Hartlepool.