NIGEL FARAGE: Allowing non-British residents to vote within the UK poses a grave threat to our democracy

For years, I warned of the looming threat of sectarian voting.

Naturally, of course, I was derided by the political establishment and accused of spouting outrageous hyperbole.

My generation grew up witnessing the violent horrors of sectarianism in Northern Ireland and the impact it had.

But most believed it could never come to England.

That was until the last general election, when four pro-Gaza Independent MPs were elected to Parliament.

Then, finally, everybody woke up to those dangers.

I am well aware that what I am about to say will be viewed as sour grapes.

But I say it because I believe it to be 100 per cent true.

What happened last Thursday at the Gorton and Denton by-election, in which the Green Party emerged victorious in a historically Labour stronghold, was the most glaring example yet of what happens if we’re not careful about the impact of mass immigration and the legitimacy of those who can vote in our elections.

Because let’s be frank: Reform UK won the Gorton and Denton by-election among British-born voters.

What makes me so certain of saying this is that the raw figures are so stark: 10 per cent of the overall constituency were born in Pakistan.

When you drill down into the actual details of what happened last week, the results really are quite extraordinary.

There were 14 wards that made up the constituency and in ten of them, more than 20 per cent of people were born abroad.

In one ward, Longsight, 48 per cent of the population are foreign-born.

Meanwhile, it was perfectly clear that throughout the campaign, in Gorton specifically, the Green Party campaigned not on local issues – or even national issues that would directly impact Gorton – but on issues surrounding Gaza.

There could have been no greater demonstration of how mass immigration under both Labour and Conservative governments has fundamentally changed the very nature and atmosphere within many of our cities.

But the issue that is most astonishing, and, frankly, is not discussed enough, is the right for Commonwealth citizens to vote in UK elections.

I had never really quite understood before last week’s events the sheer scale and implications of what I believe could be a massive problem for British politics.

If you come into this country from a Commonwealth nation such as Pakistan, provided you can prove that you normally reside at a property within a constituency, through Commonwealth rights you get the right to vote.

As a result, the thousands of those who voted Green last Thursday are not actually British citizens.

And in my opinion this is having a terrifying effect on the British electoral process.

I am well aware many people will find this to be shattering news.

Some will even find it difficult to believe.

But I have checked this out legally and I am right.

Sectarianism, in all its forms, leads to even deeper hostility.

We saw it in Manchester itself last October when there was the murderous attack on a synagogue.

Last week, a man was arrested for entering a mosque in central Manchester allegedly carrying an axe – which worryingly looked like a tit-for-tat reprisal.

These conflicts, if played out through British politics, will have a deleterious effect on the whole of our society and all of our communities.

How do we tackle this?

First, the time has come to confront the extraordinarily dishonest behaviour taking place in polling stations.

Democracy Volunteers, a group of election observers who check that voting processes are being followed correctly, claimed last week that in 68 per cent of the polling stations they surveyed in Gorton and Denton, they witnessed what they described as ‘family voting’.

This is a process where people are walking into booths with their relatives, many of whom speak little or no English, and watch over them as they vote for the ‘right’ candidate.

Make no mistake: This practice must be outlawed.

And if you think about that, it makes you wonder what level of coercion is applied to those who receive postal votes in some of the Muslim communities in Britain, where women have far fewer rights than men.

I personally doubt that they get to exercise that option in secrecy.

But I feel we have to go further.

Which is why, secondly, I think the time has come to end the practice of Commonwealth voting.

Yes, I know Britain has a historic association with the Commonwealth.

But if we do not, then I fear that what we have seen in Gorton and Denton will play itself out in many areas where local electoral elections are taking place in May.

And it’s not just council seats.

The implications for the next general election are enormous.

I’m sorry, but surely it is only right that British citizens should be able to vote in British elections on British issues – not have international problems that are taking place thousands of miles away brought into campaigning.

The events in Gorton and Denton over the past few weeks highlighted the troubling direction in which our democracy is heading.

After nearly 30 years in politics, I can honestly say this was one of the most disturbing by-elections I have witnessed.

It should serve as a wake-up call.