Plans to count out the disenfranchised branded a "democratic disgrace"
Glasgow North MP and Shadow Scotland Office front-bench spokesperson, Ann McKechin, today welcomed a partial u-turn by the Tory-Lib Dem Government, as plans to gerrymander constituencies began to unravel under scrutiny. The Government wants to set a made-up quota of 76,000 signatories to the voters roll in each constituency, instead of accounting for all those entitled to vote in our communities. Speaking at the Scottish Affairs Select Committee today the Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore, admitted under intense questioning that the Orkney and Shetland and Western Isles constituencies will now be excluded from the figures for determining the population limit for each of the mainland seats. Previously, it was understood that the island seats would still be used to calculate the quota - but be excluded from being of that quota. The net result would be the loss of additional mainland seats. Across Scotland, hundreds of thousands of people have not signed the electoral register and the Tory-Lib Dem Government is seeking to cut their representation in Parliament as a result. Ann McKechin MP said: 
"I welcome the sudden reversal by Mr Moore in the Government's position. "His plan to gerrymander Scottish seats is already crumbling as the issues proves much more complex than it first appeared to him. "Artificially increasing the size of Scotland's urban seats to provide exceptions for the 2 island constituencies was problematic. "The whole matter shows how difficult it is to impose artificial population limits on communities. "They must now go further in ensuring the Boundary Commission has the proper freedom to consider local geography and communities across the length and breadth of the country - not just in Lib Dem rural seats . "Of course their extraordinary plan to do all this based on a partial register rather than on all UK citizens entitled to vote is a democratic disgrace."
There are fears that if implemented, this ill-conceived plan would significantly reduce the voice of already severely disenfranchised communities in Parliament. In Glasgow City alone, more than 100,000 people are not registered to vote, according to the Electoral Commission - the watchdog responsible for supervising the electoral system. - Ann McKechin MP pressed the Secretary of State for Scotland on this issue at Scottish Questions on 21 July
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