Andy Burnham urged to overhaul ‘timid and limited’ elections bill

Ex-minister who helped write draft calls for bolder action on voting reform, crypto donations and social media The government was “timid” and “incremental” when deciding what to include in its elections bill, a former minister who helped write it has said, as she urged the incoming prime minister, Andy Burnham, to go further. Rushanara Ali, who resigned as democracy minister last August, said the draft legislation still contained big gaps when it came to voting reform, cryptocurrency donations and social media regulation. She called on Burnham to listen to the concerns of many Labour MPs who have been seeking to amend the bill, which was delayed this week to give parliamentary time to the Hillsborough law instead. “If I had my way at the time, I would have made the bill much, much more comprehensive,” Ali said. “But I was working within the confines, frankly, of an incremental approach – quite timid and limited. “I wanted more on harassment, intimidation, online hostility and hatred … But it was a challenge trying to move things on the DSIT [Department for Science, Innovation and Technology] side.” Her criticisms of Keir Starmer’s government echo many of the