What does being British mean for Britons who don’t live in the UK?

A great deal of media space has been given to immigration, not least by the xenophobic UKIP, over the last year. More recently, Michael Gove has stated that “British values” should be taught in schools. Not much has been debated about emigration and the British passport holders who live outside the UK and their rights – or lack of them.

The right to vote is fundamental to a civilised society but successive governments have seemed to believe that Britishness wears off after 15 years outside the UK. After this time no British passport holder can vote in national elections in the UK. This figure has changed 3 times in the last 29 years, from 20 to 5, to the current 15 years. The UK bases the right to vote on residency not birth. UK is only one of five countries (Ireland, Denmark, Malta & Cyprus) in the EU that have similar restrictions although Ireland is reviewing voting rights for their citizens and Denmark has just agreed dual nationality for non -Danish  residents. EU Commssioner Reding has also campaigned strongly for the removal of these restrictions.

The estimate of Britons living abroad is 5m worldwide and 2m in the EU. These figures add up to the population of many countries.

The arguments put by successive UK governments relate to connections to the UK. This was understandable  in the 19th century when travel and communications were restricted but  in the 21st century with the internet and faster travel links it is laughable. Someone working in Paris or Brussels can be in London sooner than many people living in the UK. Surely the desire to be on the electoral roll is a sign of connectedness in itself. The world of work is increasingly global and taking away the right to vote is a restriction on the mobility of labour.

Labour International, the CLP for members abroad, has campaigned hard on this issue but with little interest from UK Labour MPs. The Liberal Democrats have already stated that they support changes and a Conservative Private Members Bill had its first reading 7th July 2014. The Party has always been a party that espoused internationalism but not it seems when treating its own nationals fairly when they live in the international community. One view that cynically seems to explain this indifference is the assumption that most expats are Tory. Two of the strongest branches of LI are based in Spain.

France allows all its citizens to vote for life wherever they live and in addition they are represented in the national parliament by an MP. The French registration for overseas voters is 1.1m, the UK latest figure 32,739. The registration process in the UK currently is not simple or wholly online and is renewable every year.  We hope that the National Policy Forum will endorse the amendment to finally address this democratic deficit.

Val Stevens lives in France and is a member of Labour International’s Executive Committee. For any further information about LI and its activities see www.labourinternational.net