Silly season arrived early in the Commons yesterday. No, I’m not talking about the weekly farce that is Prime Minister’s Questions but rather Siobhain McDonagh’s Bill introduced under the 10 Minute Rule. You see, what the member for Mitcham and Morden would like to do is make access to social security dependent on being on the electoral register. The reasoning is simple. The right to mine, yours or anyone else’s access to support in hard times is conditional on your fulfilment of social obligations. In Siobhain’s case, this should include being registered to vote. She argued a reform of this character would

“draw an explicit connection between democracy and the benefits we enjoy because we live in a democracy … If you don’t like living in a democracy, fine, but don’t expect all the good things that democracy offers in return.”

Alrighty then. Continue reading →