Votes for Life

Amongst the many UK Government policies of concern to Brits abroad are EU rights, frozen pensions, NHS access, UK university fees, nationality and border measures, UK trade policy and climate change mitigation.

While welcoming this long-overdue reform to voting rights, LibDem campaigners and parliamentarians have expressed their dismay that the Government did not take the opportunity to streamline the voting process for UK citizens abroad. The Conservative Government has been accused of only wanting to extend the electorate to permit donations from wealthy overseas supporters. 

LibDems Abroad gave evidence at the House of Commons, held negotiations with Government ministers and officials and introduced amendments in the House of Lords to improve practical aspects of the Elections Bill to ensure every vote counted. This included the electronic transmission or downloading of ballots to cut in half the round-trip time of postal votes. “The Tory Government has shown its true intentions by rejecting all such practical measures to improve democracy for overseas voters” said James Churchill, chair of LibDems Overseas, based in the United States.

An amendment proposed by LibDem peers on overseas constituencies was also not passed. “MPs are very busy dealing with issues faced by the majority of their constituents who live in the UK. That’s why our party supports the introduction of dedicated MPs representing those living overseas who can deal with the specific challenges they face”, said Jenny Shorten, chair of LibDems in France.

The LibDems have appointed two peers in the House of Lords to take up issues affecting Britons abroad until proper representation is afforded to them through overseas constituencies. Lord Stoneham deals with Britons living outside Europe and Baroness Miller with those based in Europe. They can be contacted through LibDems Abroad at contact-peers@libdemsabroad.org.

The LibDems fiercely opposed many other anti-democratic measures in the Bill, but were ultimately ignored by the Government, who pushed through troubling measures to remove the independence of the Electoral Commission and introduce voter suppression measures by requiring photo ID to vote.

LibDems Abroad will continue to provide information and support to British citizens living overseas about how to claim their right to vote and are inviting them to register their details on this mailing list to receive updates as the detailed information is released.