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| Little to late for Brexit voters |
While the change came a little too late to potentially
prevent the Brexit, the British government have confirmed that they plan to
scrap the 15-year rule that prevents long-term expats from voting in British
general elections and referendums.
The decision to remove the barriers to voting in time for
the 2020 election was made last Friday. The change means that any British
national will have the right to have their voice heard in the next general
election; regardless of how long they have been living in Spain or abroad.
The current rules were quite controversial as they denied
British citizens the right to vote if they had been living outside of the UK
for over 15 years. The rule was called undemocratic by critics. There were also
people who defended the rule; saying that people who had abandoned their
country for so long had no right to say how the country should be run.
It looks like the government has decided to accept that the
rules were indeed unfair. They issued a policy statement called “Democracy that
Works for Everyone” in which they stated that they do indeed plan on scrapping
the rule.
Constitution Minister Chris Skidmore said that overseas
electors still contribute to British society and that they should still have
the right to vote. He added that the government intends to give these people
the right to register to vote quickly enough to get them voting in the 2020
election.
MP Skidmore continued to say that there is more to being
British than just living in the UK; British people are British citizens no
matter where they live. He added that these Britons abroad still kept their
strong cultural and social ties with Britain and their families at home while
they continue to build businesses abroad. The decisions that are being made on
British shores affect British citizens the world over, many of whom plan to
eventually return to the UK in the future the MP said in a column he wrote for
the Telegraph newspaper.
The 15-year rule has become particularly pertinent in recent
years. Then-PM David Cameron promised to scrap the rule in the 2015 general
election. It is a move that proved to be a vote winner but, after the election
was over, he clarified that the rule would not be scrapped before the planned
EU referendum. It is unlikely the referendum would have passed if the rule had
been scrapped by then, so perhaps this was a move Mr Cameron regrets now. The
referendum was pretty close and many living abroad in Spain would have likely voted to
remain, which would potentially have given the Remain camp the votes they
needed to win.
While many expats will likely feel that the rule change is a
little too late, many will welcome the scrapping of such an unpopular policy.
It could even potentially lead to more people leaving the UK as they know that
their vote will still count now.
