Parliament has heard details of "bribery" during elections and the "manipulation of postal votes" in part of the Bradford district.

Postal voting was described as an "undeniable problem in Keighley and Ilkley" as MPs debated the controversial Elections Bill.

During yesterday's debate, the House of Commons was told that one in five reports of electoral fraud come from West Yorkshire.

Keighley MP Robbie Moore, a Conservative, said: "I welcome the actions that the Government are taking to make our elections fairer. Changes to the electoral process have been due for some time, and I was proud to stand on a manifesto in 2019 that promised finally to do something about the situation."

Mr Moore said a clause within the Bill gave attention to postal votes regarding how applications are made and the verifications needed to make them.

He said: "As I have previously said in this place, postal voting is an undeniable problem in Keighley and Ilkley. My constituents have expressed their anger and confusion at how it is so easy for people to get away with distorting our electoral process.

"In fact, my constituency is deemed to be at high risk of such fraud, with one in five reports of electoral fraud coming from the West Yorkshire area. This includes cases of bribery, false statements and exerting undue influence on voters. In Keighley it is well known that postal votes are manipulated during general and local elections and other votes."

Later, ministers were accused of rushing through proposals to introduce voter ID, as the legislation cleared the House of Commons.

Voters will be required to show an approved form of photographic identification before collecting their ballot paper to vote in a polling station, according to measures contained in the Elections Bill.

It will apply across the UK in general elections and a free voter card will be available from councils for people without a suitable form of ID.

But the Bill’s report stage, where MPs debate amendments, was squeezed to two hours and 20 minutes due to extra business being scheduled in the Commons by the Government.

The third reading debate was also swift after four votes and a cut-off time of 10pm meant there were only seven minutes available for it.

SNP MP Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) said the Government had “rushed it through” the previous committee stage, adding at report stage: “The way this Bill has been rammed through this House is a complete an utter disgrace.”

Labour former shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee had urged the Government to pause proceedings on the Bill, with its report noting more thorough consultations were needed particularly in regards to the voter ID requirement.

Mr McDonnell said: “I’m offended by the limited amount of time we’ve been given this evening.”

Labour’s bid to remove the voter ID section of the Bill was rejected by 327 votes to 234, majority 93.

The Opposition’s new clause to lower the voting age to 16 in UK parliamentary elections was also defeated by 327 votes to 236, majority 91.

A separate move by the Opposition to prevent overseas electors donating to political parties in the UK was rejected by 322 votes to 237, majority 85.

Shadow communities minister Alex Norris said: “This is a bad Bill. It’s full of solutions in search of problems.

“Rather than opening up our democracy to greater participation it will do the opposite, all the while further weakening our democracy to dodgy finance.

“It’s the sort of partial nonsense that you see in US state houses.”

Mr Norris said the evidence showed that in 2019 “you are more likely to have been struck by lightning three times than have voted after a phony voter”.

But communities minister Kemi Badenoch said: “I am disappointed but not surprised that the Opposition remains unable to see the necessity of this simple and proportionate protection for the integrity of our ballot.

“The fact is voter ID is supported by the Electoral Commission, it is backed by international election observers who have repeatedly called for the introduction, saying its absence is a security risk, it is long-established in liberal democracies across the world and is already in place in Northern Ireland.”

The Bill would also give the Government power to set the Electoral Commission’s strategic priorities.

Labour MP Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) said of voter ID: “I am worried about voter suppression.

“And at stake is the very integrity of our elections.”

He said voter ID “is an old, cynical trick. Insert an administrative hurdle.

“Dress it up as improving security. Watch voter turnout go down. Job done. The fix is in.”

But Conservative former minister Steve Baker said: “The idea that impersonation isn’t a problem certainly does not accord with my experience in Wycombe.”

The Liberal Democrats had hoped to force a vote on their proposals to abolish the first-past-the-post system for UK general elections and require the Government to take steps to introduce proportional representation, but the squeezed timing denied them this chance.

Lib Dem former cabinet minister Alistair Carmichael said: “The standing of this House in the eyes of our fellow citizens has never been lower.

“It is time and it is now urgent that in fact we should address that.

“We are not going to address it just by changes to standards and committees in this place, we have to change it by changing the way in which we are sent here by the electorate.

“We have to have a system that gets rid of safe seats that means that everybody’s vote, no matter where they live, is going to be of equal value.”

The Bill received a third reading by 325 votes to 234, majority 91.

It will undergo further scrutiny in the House of Lords at a later stage.