Votes for Life: A Bremain Campaign 2018

Votes for Life: A Bremain Campaign 2018

Jan 30, 2018 | Campaigns & Events, News

Campaigning to restore the lifelong right to vote for all UK citizens overseas

Prior to 1985, British citizens living overseas did not have the right to vote. The Representation of the People Act 1985 enabled overseas citizens to vote in the constituency where they had previously lived, but only for a period of five years. That was extended to twenty years in 1989 but reduced to fifteen years in 2000, a limit which still applies today.

It is estimated that around one million Britons living overseas have been denied the right to vote due to the fifteen year rule. 

Many other democracies allow their overseas citizens Votes for Life, something about which Bremain in Spain members feel very strongly. Many were disenfranchised during the EU referendum vote which created a significant impact and uncertainty on their daily lives in their adopted country. Many UK citizens in Europe moved abroad for many different reasons but with the understanding that they could due to Freedom of Movement. Many UK citizens overseas still pay taxes, have family and/or close connections to the UK and care deeply about the UK national interest.

Political Background

The three main political parties in the UK have differing opinions on Votes for Life, with the Labour Party maintaining silence on the subject in the 2017 election.

The Liberal Democrats 2017 manifesto declared that  it will “enable all UK citizens living abroad to vote for MPs in separate overseas constituencies and to participate in UK referendums”. 

In the 2017 General Elections, the Conservative  party manifesto included the following:

“Our democratic institutions may be ancient but should not be neglected. We will continue to modernise and improve our electoral registration process, making it as accessible as possible so that every voice counts. We will legislate for votes for life for British overseas electors.” (Conservative Party manifesto, Forward Together, May 2017, p.42).

It was also included in the 2010 and 2015 manifestos.

To date, this has not been delivered but we now have the second reading of a bill to introduce Votes for Life on Feb 23 2018 which was introduced by Glynn Davies MP.

 

See Harry Shindler MBE’s letter to all fellow Brits abroad HERE

 

Update Nov 3 2018 

We have just received a phone call from the wonderful Harry Shindler confirming he now has a date for his case to be heard at the European Court of Justice – 26th November 2018.
“Shindler vs. Council” questions the European Union decision to open Brexit negotiations when so many Brits in the EU were unfairly deprived of their right to vote in the referendum.
If successful, Brexit could be stopped! We can’t think of anyone more deserving of winning that prize than Harry!
Keeping everything crossed!

You can read more about the case here – Action for Expat Votes

 

Campaign

We have prepared a template letter for you to write or email your MP. Please remember to include the postcode or address in your previous UK constituency so that the MP can verify your eligibility to communicate with them. There are also downloadable memes which you can tweet or share on social media. Please ‘Like’ our Campaign Facebook Page to keep up with the latest news.

Harry emailed us today to send the following message to supporters of the Votes for Life campaign:

Harry Shindler MBE

Campaign Tool Kit

 

MEMES to download. See below or visit our our memes page. Select to enlarge. Right click and/or ‘Save As’ the jpg files to your device.
They are copyright free and intended for sharing!

LOTS MORE MEMES FOR SHARING
Click HERE

TEMPLATE LETTER for you to write or email your MP. Select the following LINK HERE and download the Word document which you can tailor to your own requirements. Please remember to include the postcode or address in your previous UK constituency so that the MP can verify your eligibility to communicate with them.

A simple way to email your MP is through Write to Them – Making it easy to write to the politicians who represent you – even if you don’t know who they are. You can find the website HERE – https://www.writetothem.com/

SIGN THE PETITION
Give all British citizens living abroad the right to vote and dedicated MPs
About 1 million British citizens living abroad do not have the right to vote due to their overseas residency exceeding 15 years. They therefore lack representation in Parliament. And, British Citizens living abroad for under 15 years may only vote in a constituency they no longer live in…. More details

 

SOCIAL MEDIA
Please ‘Like’ and ‘Follow’ the Votes for Life Facebook page HERE – @votesforlife2018
You can also use the hashtag #votesforlife on Twitter

The INsurgents Power 250 – New Year Honours List features Bremain

The INsurgents Power 250 – New Year Honours List features Bremain

Jan 2, 2018 | News

The INsurgents Power 250 – New Year Honours List – With a “Power Score” of 93 out of a possible 100, Bremain in Spain ended the year at number 44 in the list of the top Remain insurgents – up 8 places from the previous month.

We were particularly pleased to be given a special mention in dispatches as part of the New Year Honours List:
“There have been a number of times in 2017 where I have seen how the energy, passion and intelligent action have helped move us all forward. Highlights for me included : – the StopBrexit march in Manchester where the passion of the speakers there was both palpable and inspiring (speakers like Sue Wilson of Bremain in Spain, Bonnie Greer, the authors of In Limbo and even Alastair Campbell playing the Ode to Joy on the bagpipes!)”

You can view the full list, and read all about the INsurgents Power 250 HERE: https://www.rise.global/display/the-insurgents-power-250

The INsurgents Power 250 – A bit of fun and a bit very serious. The INsurgents Power 250 is a way of bringing together as many of the voices working to keep the UK in the EU. The idea is – by way of a leaderboard – to create a list where people can follow the most articulate, incisive, informed debate (spoiler alert: we love experts here)- as well as the best of the humour. Each week The INsurgents Power 250 recognises the most inspiring social media accounts so you can follow them, join the community and learn more. We use Klout scores to rank influencers. Klout takes into account social media activity and engagement across many social networks including Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Bremain Twitter Team – Since our new Twitter team was put together, co-ordinated by Valerie Chaplin and with new member Elspeth Williams joining, our Twitter reach has increased by leaps and bounds. In September we reached 3000 followers – by the end of 2017 we had achieved well over 5000, and numbers are still rising. Thanks to all of our Twitter team members – James Gambrill, Malcolm Perry, John Moffett and Zoe Adams Green @Bremaininspain

One view on the move forward to Phase Two Brexit negotiations

One view on the move forward to Phase Two Brexit negotiations

Dec 19, 2017 | Articles, News

BREMAIN IN SPAIN a group campaigning for the UK to remain in the European Union and to protect the rights of British migrants living in Spain, comments on the confirmation by the European Council, last Friday, that Phase Two of the Brexit talks can start.

Sue Wilson, Chair of Bremain in Spain, commented: “It was no surprise that the European Council agreed Brexit negotiations can move on to Phase Two. Theresa May had hoped that this would mean the start of negotiations on trade but the EU has insisted that certain conditions must be met before trade talks can commence.

“It seems that the EU27 countries were not prepared to take May at her word – rather, they needed the agreements reached during Phase One to be more substantial than a handshake and a promise. Even with all the scurrying around from the Tory government, trade talks will not start until March 2018.

“While trade talks are on hold for now, it seems that the main focus of the next three months will be on a transition deal. The EU issued a statement on Friday outlining its guidelines and clarified that, during any transitional period the UK must abide by all EU membership rules. Therefore, the four freedoms would still apply and the UK would remain under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice – a situation unlikely to please the extreme Tory Brexiteers.”

Read full article in Euro Weekly News…

 

‘Sacrificed on the altar of trade’: Britons in EU feel betrayed by Brexit deal

‘Sacrificed on the altar of trade’: Britons in EU feel betrayed by Brexit deal

Dec 15, 2017 | Articles, News

British nationals living in mainland Europe say they are alarmed by claims that their rights have been protected by the Brexit deal sealed by Theresa May and Jean-Claude Juncker.

One Briton, Ingrid Taylor, who is settled in Germany, described claims that their rights were now guaranteed as “a barefaced lie”.

Brexit impacts on the future lives of an estimated 1.2 million Britons settled in mainland Europe, most of them working. They have accused May and Juncker of sacrificing them in the rush to sign off phase one of Brexit talks.

Taylor said that she believes the European commission has started to use British people in the rest of the EU as “bargaining chips” in reaction to the “intransigent stance” Theresa May took on EU citizens living in the UK.

“After what happened on Friday, the anger has risen,” she said. “We feel betrayed, we feel anger, we feel we have been sacrificed on the altar of trade.”

One of the biggest fears of such Britons is that they will remain “landlocked” in the country in which they now live, unable to move across borders to work for meetings, or for business contracts.

Read the full Guardian article…

Expats still none the wiser despite “sufficient progress” in Brexit talks

Expats still none the wiser despite “sufficient progress” in Brexit talks

Dec 15, 2017 | Articles, News

There was bitter disappointment from the organisation British in Europe to a joint report by the UK government and the EU which outlines the progress made during the first phase of Brexit negotiations. The 17-page document, released last Friday, talks of “agreements in principle” and states the caveat “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”, leaving millions of EU and UK citizens uncertain about their futures, some 18 months after the referendum result.

Chair of British in Europe, Jane Golding, said: “This deal is even worse than we expected. After 18 months of wrangling, the UK and EU have sold 4.5 million people down the river in a grubby bargain that will have a severe impact on ordinary people’s ability to live their lives as we do now.

The key areas focused on during the first phase of talks were citizens’ rights, the Irish border and a financial settlement. The publication of the report, which announced that “sufficient progress” had been made, now allows them to move on to phase two.

Read full article in the Sur…