A Liberal Democrat MP is backing a mad new campaign that would hand the vote to over 4 million new people, including those who arrived in Britain illegally. Bath MP Wera Hobhouse sponsored a new report from Migrant Democracy Project, launched in parliament today, which would give the vote to anyone living in Britain regardless of citizenship.

A document produced by the campaign argues that Britain’s current electoral system fails to represent the millions of people in the UK who cannot participate in elections. It demands that migrant residents have the right to vote, and determine laws that could affect whether they become citizens. It describes the fact that one in six people in England and Wales are now born abroad as a “positive” thing.

The report cites Heather Lardy who supports the right of people in Commonwealth countries to vote in British elections as “intimately connected with the colonial history of the United Kingdom.”

It suggests that in some constituencies, there are over 30,000 residents who are ineligible to vote in elections, with Kensington and Bayswater topping the list with nearly 33,000 such cases.

The total cost of allowing all 4.4 million additional people to vote could cost as much as £92 million over a five year period.

Tory MP Neil O’Brien said: ‘Wera Hobhouse is sponsoring the launch of this report in the commons later on.”

“It argues we should give the vote to an extra 4.4 million people - including those who arrived illegally - because restricting voting to British citizens is ‘colonial’.”

Ms Hobhouse said these claims “are totally false.”

“Sponsoring this event was to enable a discussion around voting rights for people who have legally made their lives here, work here and pay their taxes.”

Meanwhile political commentator Steven Barrett condemned the proposal as “vote rigging”, adding “how subtle.”

Lord Hannan asked: “How many LIbDem voters support this?”

Ms HobHouse previously condemned a new Tory elections bill as “immoral”, on the grounds it removed EU citizens’ right to vote in local elections.

She said: “The bill is yet another attempt to undermine democracy by this Conservative Government. It is a blatant attack on our democracy and risks disenfranchising people”.

“You cannot strengthen democracy by making it harder for people to vote.

“I strongly oppose the elements of this bill and see it for what it is - a shameless power grab from a Government who are trying to suppress protests and make it harder for people to vote.”