Vocal Voices

There is a rare old ding-dong going on about who is allowed to vote. British, Irish, Commonwealth, Maltese and Cypriot citizens over 18 who are resident in the UK will be eligible to vote, but not those from the EU.

It is supposed to be a UK referendum so it is no surprise that EU citizens cannot vote, but what has it to do with the Irish and Commonwealth, Maltese and Cypriot citizens? We might as well just give a vote to anyone who happens to be here on the day.

That is pretty arbitrary Surely only UK citizens should vote?

I see Horrible Hattie Harperson is at it again, demanding that 16 year olds be given the vote in the EU referendum.

It's an amazing thing. Only two weeks ago she was saying that NOBODY should get a vote on leaving the EU, now she's so keen on the idea that she wants to include 16 year olds!

We are also allowing ex-pat Brits who have lived abroad for less than 15 years to vote in the referendum. This is in line with the voting criteria for normal elections, but (with all respect to those ex-pats on this board) I'm not personally convinced they should be eligible to vote in this referendum either.

There is, of course, a counter-argument that EU ex-pats should be allowed to vote as the result could affect their futures, in the sense that the Spanish (et al) will be extremely beastly to them if we do vote for Brexit. I can see the sense in this, but as a dyed-in-the-wool anti-European, I'll do anything to skew the vote towards leaving ....

We might as well just give a vote to anyone who happens to be here on the day.

Having just read the DM article about the hundreds of Bangladeshis arriving at Stanstead on day return tickets from Italy, just to register and claim housing benefits, now't would surprise me ....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... olice.html

But then you would lose my "Yes" vote to get out also Mrs S "Yes" vote....

Not that I'll be registered to vote. Mrs S, on the other hand, will ensure she's registered so she can get her country out of the EU if at all possible.

You might think we should be voting NO. But then you'd have to assume that we put our own personal wellbeing before the wellbeing of our country that gave us the start we had in life. Something we radically don't.

I was explaining all the irritants I have with the EU and how it impacts the EU to my Belgian colleagues last week. Their response? "That's terrible, we don't see that". I replied that I knew they did not see that as they would not be able to experience it anywhere else in the EU and that is the whole problem. It's not that the UK is so difficult or so unreasonable. It is that the expectations of the EU are so totally misaligned with the economy, life and expectations of the UK citizens and they have absolutely no intention of making any concessions for us.

I note the Merkel's government is keen to talk to Cameron on the issue they fear the most "Immigration", but are radically opposed to talking about anything else the UK might want in changes.

plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Kaz wrote:Surely only UK citizens should vote?

Quite.

TheOstrich wrote:with all respect to those ex-pats on this board) I'm not personally convinced they should be eligible to vote in this referendum either.

Ossie, I don't feel qualified to vote - I don't here, although the communist party will keep on trying to get me to register

We've been out of the country for amost 10 years- What goes on over there is up to you, not me. What goes on over here is up to me, not you.

If you understand what I mean.

Are you interested in the Ria Formosa inhabitants? Should they be able to live in hovels, no sanitation? water? and other stuff? Have you even heard about it? Course not.

tonicha wrote:What goes on over there is up to you, not me. What goes on over here is up to me, not you.
If you understand what I mean.
Are you interested in the Ria Formosa inhabitants? Should they be able to live in hovels, no sanitation? water? and other stuff? Have you even heard about it? Course not.

Yes, I fully agree with that, Ton. I don't know the first thing about Ria Formosa (which I guess is near where you reside). I've had to Google it ...

In the same way, I wouldn't expect you to have anything more than a passing interest in the fact that the Labour council here has earmarked a huge swathe of green-belt land, within one-half mile of where I live, to destroy by building between 5,000 and 10,000 new houses and a mega industrial park, when we already have totally overstretched local resources and infrastructure. All to assist in accommodating Britain's burgeoning population, many of whom, I would argue, shouldn't be in this country. But that's a personal view and I don't expect everyone to agree with it.

Mind you, if I was in Ria Formosa, I don't think I'd like to see folk living in a shanty town without basic water and sanitation, so yes, I'd probably be a Communist. I'm all for a bit of "indignados" .....

Ah but this is not about what people are "interested" in. This is about who gets to decide the future of Britain within the EU. Britain which is a target for immigration from everywhere for two reasons. First that we speak English and therefore they are more likely to be able to survive in the UK. Second the UK is seen as a gateway to the US, true or false, but more true given that the UK allows anyone who has successfully managed to stay legally for 5 years to apply for citizenship. Whether or not we allow them to work or give them economic asylum are tertiary at best in the decision process.

If we only gave the vote to those who are "interested" in the relationship of the UK with the EU, then the actual vote would be restricted to a circle of voters less than the population of Scotland. Instead of people who care less about the vote than which nightclub they are going to drink themselves insensible in on Saturday night.

Ton, I assume you are still a British citizen? That would mean that you have no vote in Portugal except the local council/mayoral elections. If Portugal decided to exit the Eurozone and totally devalue your property, you would have no vote on the matter, just as we have no vote in France. That, I believe, is right. We have both been told that we would be sponsored for French citizenship by successive deputy mayors and chairs of committees in the town. In the end we have decided that we want to be British and so separate us from the voting French.

However, should the UK leave the EU, that would have quite an impact on you. Something you should feel entitled to have a vote on as a citizen of the UK, not Portugal. I mean, if all the lager louts can have a say based on whether or not they can have a cheap jolly to Spain (or Greece or any other Med EU country which is cheap), to get massively drunk and carry on like a total fool, then surely you should have a vote based upon whether there will be a backlash against you, a British Citizen, should the UK decide to leave the EU.

Funnily enough the lager louts might vote very differently if they understood that their jollies would be pretty much as easy to have and would cost them even less if they left the EU. But, fortunately for those who want to stay in the EU, they have absolutely no clue whatsoever about that.

Whilst Mrs S and I may live in France (well it's where my current home address is, technically I have "lived" all over the EU for the last 19 years), we have no intention of retiring here. We will, eventually, move back to the UK to be closer to our family and to significantly simplify our wills and the disbursement of any assets which we may have when we die. We would like that country to be a strong independent country like the one we grew up in. Not some pussy whipped nonentity for whom France and Germany feel they can wield our power and representation (currently going through the UN as a UK initiative), without giving us any real say in how the EU runs....

In the end I won't have a vote but that is for technical reasons.