David Wilshire MP

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David Wilshire MP (Conservative). MP for Spelthorne first elected in 1987. Prior to becoming an MP, he served as a Town, District and County Councillor for eleven years and was a Council leader for six years. He also served on several NHS bodies. He has been a teacher, run his own businesses, worked for Members of the European Parliament, and was Co-Director of the Political Management Programme at Brunel University for six years.

In 1988 Members were discussing in the Commons chamber their concerns about Parliament's failure to embrace new technologies. Questioning why electronic mail had not yet been introduced in Westminster, allowing him to communicate with staff in his constituency office, David Wilshire MP stated that 'the technological revolution of which we are so proud in Britain seems to have passed Westminster by

Contents

[edit] Issues

[edit] Electronic Voting

Pushed successfully to have Council of Europe officials look into the UK to assess whether it is necessary to officially monitor the UK's voting procedures. David Wilshire MP said the government had failed to put its "house in order" to prevent fraudulent voting. He accused the government of "systematically ignoring" pleas from the Electoral Commission. "If the British government won't put its own house in order, you mustn't be surprised if there are some of us who will try to find someone else who will make them put their house in order," he told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme.

Put forward the following Clause

'No pilot may include any use of voting electronically by computer, mobile telephone, SMS, text or any other form of e-voting.'.

Tried to ammend the law so that

making arrangements for the
inspection of ballot papers or electronic voting to ascertain whether there if evidence (even where no allegation has been made to that effect) of personation or other electoral offences or malpractice.'.

David has served as an official Election Observer in Angola, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia and South Africa.

[edit] Identity cards

Signed Early Day Motion 263 Identity Cards 06 June 2005

That this House believes that a convincing case for the introduction of compulsory biometric identity cards and a national database has not been made, that the risks involved far outweigh any discernible benefit, that the introduction of identity cards will fundamentally change the relationship between the citizen and the state, diminish personal privacy and threaten civil liberties, that the present proposals do not provide properly costed, proportionate or effective solutions to the problems they are claimed to solve; and calls upon the Government to shelve plans for their introduction.

[edit] Freedom of Information

Signed Early Day Motion 2699 Freedom of Information 10 December 2006

That this House welcomes the finding of the Constitutional Affairs Committee (HC991) that the Freedom of Information Act has `already brought about the release of significant new information and....this information is being used in a constructive and positive way' and the committee's conclusion that it sees `no need to change' the Act's charging arrangements; views with concern reports that the Government is considering changing these arrangements to permit an application fee to be charged for all requests or to allow authorities to refuse, on cost grounds, a significant proportion of requests which they currently must answer; and considers that such changes could undermine the Act's benefits of increased openness, accountability and trust in the work of public authorities.

[edit] DNA database

Signed Early Day Motion 1697 Use of the DNA database 27 Febuary 2006

That this House expresses its concern about the retention of DNA data taken from children aged 10 to 18 years who have never been charged or cautioned with any offence; notes large regional differences in retention policy between various police forces; and believes that this imbalance is being further exacerbated by the Government's unwillingness to issue clear guidelines to chief constables about the removal of innocent children from the National Police DNA Database.

[edit] Links

[edit] News

2006-11-13 - IFES - British MPs Slam Nigerian Colleagues On Poor Accountability
Summary: Visiting British Parliamentarians in the country have slammed their Nigerian colleagues for distancing themselves from their constituencies even as they urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to use an updated version of the 2003 voters' register for the 2007 elections. The six-member group ... David Wilshire MP, Conservative; ... was in the country on a fact-finding mission.
2006-10-18 - The Times - Britain accused of breaching human rights over voting
Author: Dominic Kennedy
Summary: David Wilshire, a Tory MP on the council’s assembly, persuaded centre-Right and liberal parliamentarians from across Europe to demand an inquiry. In a motion they complained of “the growing body of evidence that widespread absent vote fraud is taking place in the UK”. Such cheating would breach the European Convention on Human Rights, which requires nations to “hold free elections . . . which will ensure the free expression of the opinion of the people in the choice of the legislature”. Mr Wilshire, a former Home Office ministerial aide, said yesterday: “As we spend a lot of time telling other people they have to keep the conventions, it is important we should do so as well. It would be quite something if the UK found itself in the company of places like Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan and the Ukraine, which have been severely criticised.”
2006-10-18 - BBC - UK post vote fraud claims probed
Summary: Britain is to be investigated for possible human rights breaches, over concerns about postal vote fraud. Two Council of Europe officials will visit London in December, to assess whether it is necessary to officially monitor the UK's voting procedures. Tory MP David Wilshire, who pushed for the resolution, said the government had failed to put its "house in order" to prevent fraudulent voting.
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