Votes for Life – a Bremain Campaign Update May 2021

Votes for Life – a Bremain Campaign Update May 2021

May 12, 2021 | News, Votes for Life

Bremain in Spain has been campaigning since 2017 for the repeal of the fifteen year rule which has prevented UK citizens living overseas from being able to cast their vote in UK elections. You can read the history of UK overseas voting in the House of Commons Library. Click the link to our Votes for Life Facebook Page or here to read more about our campaign.

Most Western democracies allow their citizens living overseas to vote in elections with the exception of the ‘Mother of Parliaments’, but that is about to finally change. Since the 2010 General Election and each subsequent election, the Conservative party have pledged to repeal the fifteen year rule and provision was made in this year’s Budget in March – you can read more about that here. In yesterday’s Queen’s Speech, as part of the Electoral Integrity Bill, the commitment to remove the fifteen year rule was announced. You can read the briefing notes here. 

 

This means that the Bill should pass through Parliament in this current session but it is likely that some MPs will try to amend the Bill to prevent the return of voting rights. We therefore cannot sit on our laurels and expect it to pass without opposition. The Bremain team over the next few weeks will be planning how to ensure that we can equip you with as much information that we possibly can, along with some useful tools for you to use when lobbying your MP or the MP in your last UK constituency. This page and our Facebook Page will be updated so keep an eye out for further information in due course.

Our Chair Sue Wilson has just published an article for Yorkshire Bylines about the Electoral Integrity Bill which you can read here.

Meanwhile, here are some links to the Votes for Life announcement in the media:

The Guardian

Bermuda’s Royal Gazette

The Mirror

Electoral integrity bill: voter rights vs voter suppression

Electoral integrity bill: voter rights vs voter suppression

May 12, 2021 | Bylines, News

After many false starts, and countless broken promises, there was a glimmer of hope for Brits abroad – and their voting rights – in Tuesday’s Queen’s speech.

The scrapping of the arbitrary 15-year voting rule has been a longstanding, and oft-repeated, Conservative manifesto promise. The rule has deprived up to five million UK nationals living abroad of their democratic right to vote in UK elections, as it deprived them from voting in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

An earlier private member’s bill aimed at restoring voting rights – the overseas electors bill 2017–2019 – failed to make it past the report stage in parliament. We now have a government bill, and a government majority, that could finally bring about the change we have been long been campaigning for. There is also more money available, following the increase of funding by £2.5m in the recent budget.

 

Harry Shindler on the Queen’s speech

Responding to news of the electoral integrity bill being included in the Queen’s speech, veteran campaigner, Harry Shindler MBE, had this to say: “It is excellent news”. In typical modest style, Harry took no credit for getting us this far himself, instead asking me to thank campaigners in Spain for their efforts.

He said, “UK nationals in Spain have played an important role, and your efforts have finally paid off. You did it”. Whilst the recognition from Harry is welcome, we think, after his 25 years of active campaigning, that most of the credit is his.

 

Scepticism from those denied voting rights

Despite baby steps in the right direction, there is still a high degree of scepticism from those denied their voting rights. We have been here before, heard the rhetoric before, had our hopes dashed before. Even the name of the bill that might finally resolve our longstanding issue – the electoral integrity bill – brings about a wry smile. Integrity is not something we naturally associate with this government.

For many months, I have been attempting to get a straight answer out of the Cabinet Office about when we could expect the return of our voting rights. After involving my own MP, and later the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the scarce responses have always been much the same.

They repeat back to us how important our rights are to them; how we maintain strong links to the UK, including paying taxes; how committed they are to scrapping the 15-year rule etc etc etc. No specifics, no time scales. A cut and paste job, hardly edited from last year’s version before the electoral integrity bill even existed.

 

Rights of UK nationals abroad

In the grand scale of concerns around the content of the Queen’s speech, the rights of UK nationals abroad will not be high on anyone’s agenda, especially in the UK. There are many pressing concerns. Boris Johnson’s pledge to reform social care has failed to amount to anything, with no more than an assertion that a proposal “will be brought forward”. Then there’s the controversial police, crime, sentencing and courts bill, which threatens our civil liberties and our ability to protest peacefully.

In addition, the planned repeal of the Fixed Term Parliament Act could see the prime minister call an election at any time – such as when he feels Labour are most at risk and the ‘vaccine bounce’ is still working in his favour.

 

Voter suppression

If the next election comes early, even if the electoral bill progresses well through parliament – House of Lords permitting – any government promises to restore our voting rights before the next ‘scheduled’ election become meaningless. The government’s plan to avoid scrutiny and suppress opposition seemingly continues unabated.

As welcome as the news about the restoration of voting rights is, it is a bitter pill to swallow when the bill that could restore democracy to Brits abroad, will have the opposite effect on many others. If, or perhaps when, the electoral integrity bill is passed, Brits abroad may be the winners, but many others will be the losers, including 3.5 million UK residents currently without photo ID.

A mother on Twitter said, “when I was a single mum, struggling to buy food, I didn’t have money to drive a car, so no licence. Certainly not enough to buy a passport. Let alone travel abroad. So how do the millions in a similar situation provide photo ID? But that’s the whole point isn’t it @BorisJohnson.”

 

Photo ID and electoral fraud

Under the guise of protecting the country from electoral fraud, the proposed new photo ID requirements will prevent many others from exercising their democratic right to vote.

The electoral fraud argument for voter ID is a spurious one. In 2019, there were a total of 595 cases of alleged voter fraud investigated by the police, of which only 164 related to the general election (source Electoral Commission). Of the 595 alleged offences only four led to a conviction, with two individuals being given a police caution. Voter ID is a solution to a problem that does not exist.

If concern over electoral fraud were really an issue for this government, then perhaps they should focus on the worst case of electoral fraud in recent history – the Brexit referendum. That might require a different kind of bill with ‘integrity’ in the title, and perhaps a very different kind of government.

Bremainers Ask …. Richard Corbett, former MEP

Bremainers Ask …. Richard Corbett, former MEP

May 2, 2021 | Bremainers Ask, News

Richard Corbett was an MEP from 1996-2009 and 2014-2020. During that time, he was the spokesman of the Socialist & Democrat Group  on constitutional affairs, Parliament’s rapporteur on the Lisbon Treaty and, for the last three years, Leader of the Labour MEPs and therefore a member of Labour’s NEC and Shadow Cabinet. From 20010-2014, he was senior advisor to the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy. He has written extensively on European issues from his regular blog to university textbooks.

Helen Johnston: How wary would the EU be of welcoming the UK back?

Brexit is bad for the EU too. Losing a Member State for the first time in its history, reduces its size, population and economy, and losing one which has a seat on the UN Security Council on the G-8 reduces its clout in the world. And what better advertisement for the benefits of EU membership and the perils of leaving than to see a return of the departed country? So, there would be considerable incentives for the EU to welcome Britain back, possibly even accepting some of the special features of Britain’s past membership, such as no obligation to participate in Schengen or the euro (on which point it would not be alone in the EU).

However, the EU would not want to risk going through the whole episode of Brexit again, nor would it want an obstructive member that blocked every new EU initiative. It would have to be convinced that Britain had genuinely changed its mind and that it would not walk out again a few years later. That in turn means that, politically, a new referendum would be needed, and won by a clear majority.

Michael Soffe: Do you believe the Labour Party should get behind the Votes for Life campaign and support returning the vote to UK Nationals who have been disenfranchised under the 15-year rule?

Yes. There is a growing number of citizens (not just from the UK) who fall out of the democratic system because they can no longer vote, either in their countries of origin or in their country of residence (except, within the EU, for local and European elections, but not national elections). This needs to be rectified.

Matt Burton: Many Remain supporters seem unable to forgive and forget Leave voters for Brexit. What would you say to those that blame them for our situation?

I would blame those who led the Leave campaign and those politicians who enabled Brexit to happen, rather than direct my ire at all ordinary leave voters who were lied to, not just in the campaign but over many years in much of the British press. 

Leave voters are entitled to say that Brexit bears no resemblance to what they were promised, namely that it would be easy, save lots of money (that would all go to the NHS), be good for the economy and have no down-side as “Britain holds all the cards”.  We need to get regretful Leave voters on our side. Talk to them!

Lisa Ryan Burton: Congratulations on your appointment as a secretariat member of the Conference on the Future of Europe. Why do you think a Brit was selected considering our departure from the EU, and what are the forum’s aims?

I suppose I was asked because of my previous experiences as the European Parliament’s rapporteur on the Lisbon Treaty and other things I did in the Parliament. My British nationality was secondary, but it does show that the European Parliament has nothing against Brits!

The Conference is intended to be the widest process of engagement with citizens that the EU has ever organized outside of elections, involving deliberative discussions and consultation exercises in all Member States, pan-European Citizens Panels with randomly selected participants, discussions with civil society organisations, and an interactive Multilingual Digital Platform on which any group of citizens may place their contribution. These will all feed ideas and proposals into a Conference Plenary, composed of representatives of the national parliaments, governments, European Parliament, regions, social partners, and civil society representatives. It therefore has the potential to engage a vast number of citizens in informed debate about the EU and its future and to distil broadly accepted demands about EU priorities and the way it works.  

Richard Corbett, Labour MEP

Steven Wilson: Do you miss your days as an MEP, and would you consider running as an MP in Westminster?

The European Parliament is a fascinating, diverse and innovative place to work. Unlike many national parliaments, who are often controlled and stifled by their government through its loyal majority and strict whipping, the European Parliament is freer, is not stifled and holds genuinely pluralistic debates. Majorities are built through explanation, persuasion and negotiation, not handed down by ministerial dictat. MEPs actually shape European legislation in a way that backbenchers at Westminster can only dream of.

Pat Kennedy: If you were leader of the Labour party, how would your approach to the E.U. and the fall-out from Brexit differ from the current Labour leadership?

I don’t think Labour can avoid addressing the considerable problems arising from Brexit in general and Johnson’s deal in particular. Job losses, disruption to supply chains and exports, losing access to shared police databases, extra costs to businesses and administrations, failure to fully protect rights of UK citizens resident in the EU and EU citizens in the UK, and the gratuitous vandalism of leaving the Erasmus student exchange scheme – the list goes on. And on.

Keir Starmer has focussed on criticising the government’s incompetence, its cronyism and its failures to address the COVID pandemic quickly enough.  It is time to broaden that attack.

Next month’s Bremainers Ask guest will be Lord Andrew Adonis, the newly appointed Chair of European Movement UK and a staunch anti-Brexit campaigner.  If you have a question for Lord Adonis, please email it to us before 7 May at enquiries@bremaininspain.com.

Tourism and the Spanish economy

Tourism and the Spanish economy

Apr 27, 2021 | Bylines, News

Bremain Chair Sue Wilson writes for Yorkshire Bylines:

The economies of countries around the world have been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. In some cases, like the UK, the severe impact has in part been due to poor or late decisions on safety measures. Elsewhere, the reliance of some countries on certain industries has also been a significant factor. In Spain, that industry is tourism.

Lockdown restrictions in Spain were stricter than most other European countries. Having watched the crisis unfold in Italy, the Spanish authorities took decisive action. Whilst many of those restrictions have now been lifted, the country is still under a ‘state of alarm’, although this is expected to be lifted on 9 May.

Regional governments have the authority to set their own pandemic measures. Where I live in the Valencian community, the measures are some of the strictest in the country, but they have been effective. This region now has the lowest covid infection rates in the whole of Europe.

 

The immediate impact on tourism

But covid has had a direct and devastating effect on the tourism industry, not least here in Spain. In 2019, over 83.5 million visitors contributed over €92bn to the Spanish economy. In 2020, the number of visitors was down to 20 million, with revenues down by 75 percent – figures not seen for 50 years.

Though 2021 is expected to see those numbers recover by around 40 percent, that will still represent a significant downturn in a sector that’s responsible for 12.4 percent of GDP and 2.9 million jobs. The Balearic Islands have been hardest hit. Visitor numbers dropped from 13.6 million in 2019 to just 1.6 million in 2020, with UK visitors alone falling by 82 percent.

 

Long-term impact on tourism in Spain

According to the Laboratory of Tourism Analysis and Innovation, even in 2022 revenue levels are not expected to reach normal levels – a view that was supported by the Funcas think tank, back at the start of this year. At that time, the Spanish government was rather more optimistic, expecting an increase in visitors from Easter, but that never really materialised.

The minister for industry, trade and tourism, Reyes Maroto, told El Pais, “Our country’s tourism is facing the worst crisis in its entire history”. She said this was because “the two elements that define the very essence of travel are affected: mobility and confidence”.

 

The EU’s recovery package is set to offer hope

Despite the impact that the pandemic and the fall in visitors have had on the Spanish economy, the outlook for recovery looks hopeful. Spain is in line for a significant chunk of the EU’s €750bn covid recovery package.

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, recently unveiled plans for the €140bn EU funding package – a combination of half grants and half loans. He described the recovery package as “the greatest opportunity for Spain since its admission into the EU”.

Brussels has urged Spain to make reforms in many areas, such as pensions, jobs, the environment and education. Many of these reforms are already taking place, though there is much work still to do.

Significant sums will be spent on investment in infrastructure projects, and decisions about spending will be made by national, regional and local government. Sánchez said a €70bn investment “will have an immediate impact on jobs this year”.

 

There’s a long way to go but Spain has the support of the EU

Predicting how long the pandemic will last, or the impact on global health or wealth, has been an inexact science. The virus has fought back hard, with dangerous new strains and long-term effects that have confounded forecasts for the future.

The amazing speed of the development and production of vaccines has given humanity a fighting chance of control, as long as the world’s leaders remember we are one planet with one global problem.

Countries like New Zealand, that acted quickly and decisively, have already seen a return to something like ‘normal life’. As New Zealand’s health has recovered, so has its economy. For Spain, and other EU countries, the help and significant financial support provided by the EU, will go a long way to helping us turn the corner and recover – both our health and our wealth.

Sánchez says, “The pandemic will give way to a new period in history”. Such a shame that the UK – suffering one of the worst hits to its economy of any country on the planet – must go it alone, without EU support and funds. Not sure the supposed ‘extra £350m’ a week is going to cut it.

Authority Magazine Interview with Bremain Chair Sue Wilson

Authority Magazine Interview with Bremain Chair Sue Wilson

Apr 15, 2021 | News

‘Don’t feel intimidated by so-called experts — you are the expert and you know more than they do! — When I first met a committee of politicians, I thought I would learn something from them. As it turns out, politicians don’t know a great deal (except perhaps on their specific subject), and they tend to want to pick your brains, not the other way around!’

Pirie Jones Grossman from Authority Magazine recently interviewed Sue Wilson and she writes:

‘Many successful people reinvented themselves in a later period in their life. Jeff Bezos worked in Wall Street before he reinvented himself and started Amazon. Sara Blakely sold office supplies before she started Spanx. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was a WWE wrestler before he became a successful actor and filmmaker. Arnold Schwarzenegger went from a bodybuilder, to an actor to a Governor. McDonald’s founder Ray Croc was a milkshake-device salesman before starting the McDonalds franchise in his 50’s.

How does one reinvent themselves? What hurdles have to be overcome to take life in a new direction? How do you overcome those challenges? How do you ignore the naysayers? How do you push through the paralyzing fear?

In this series called “Second Chapters; How I Reinvented Myself In The Second Chapter Of My Life “ we are interviewing successful people who reinvented themselves in a second chapter in life, to share their story and help empower others.

As a part of this interview series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sue Wilson.‘

A long-held love affair with the country sparked Sue’s dream of retirement on a Spanish Costa. Little did she know that the move would come sooner than expected, or that retirement would look so different from her vision, thanks to Brexit. Formerly disinterested in current affairs, the Brexit referendum turned an aversion to politics into an obsession, bringing with it, new challenges and new skills. Sue now spends all of her retirement campaigning for the rights of British citizens living across Europe.

Originally from Oxford, Sue Wilson lived in London and Cambridge, working in sales, management and training. She moved to Spain in 2007 and worked as an English language teacher. Sue became Chair of Bremain in Spain — a group campaigning against Brexit — shortly after the 2016 referendum. As a pro-EU activist, she has been involved in many rallies and events and has worked closely with politicians and campaigners in Westminster and Brussels. Sue was lead plaintiff in the ‘Wilson versus The Prime Minister’ (Theresa May) legal challenge, over the validity of the Brexit referendum. Sue lives in the Valencian Community with her husband and four cats, and although officially retired, campaigns full-time for the protection of British citizens’ rights across Spain and the EU.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we start, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?

 

My younger brother and I grew up in Oxford. My father worked at the car factory, and my mum worked part-time for the NHS. My brother and I left home the same summer — me at aged 18 to move to London, and he at aged 16 to join the Navy. I lived in London for the next 15 years, and met my husband there.

 

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

 

My dad always had a few of those — the one that resonates the most is “if a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing well”. It’s a mantra that has followed me throughout my career, and in my personal life.

 

You have been blessed with much success. In your opinion, what are the top three qualities that you possess that have helped you accomplish so much? If you can, please share a story or example for each.

 

A positive outlook has been incredibly important, not just for my own sanity, but also as a basis for dispensing hope and motivation to others. As a team manager, and as a campaigner leading a group of 6000 members, an optimistic outlook has been vital.

I have always been well organised and making plans and breaking tasks down into bite-sized chunks helps me make sense of work, and life. I could go into more detail, but I’d need to make a list first!

I’ve been fairly successful at building strong links with people — both professionally and personally. I like to think that is down to my being honest and open, and willing to share. Some enjoy confrontation whereas I prefer to avoid it.

 

You can read the full interview over at Authority Magazine.