Should Foreign Residents Get Full Voting Rights in UK Elections?
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Updates : UK general election set for 12 December 2019. The foreign nationals residing in UK will not be allowed to vote in the early election.
See how YOUR MP voted last night on the Commons website.
It is unclear how this move would affect the Pound Sterling Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate, but every radical political move has an effect on the currency.
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Plans for a one-line bill were announced by Boris Johnson minutes after he failed at his third attempt to secure the two-thirds of MPs needed to allow an early poll without changing the law. The simple motion has opened the possibility for the MPs to amend the election bill.
Jeremy Corbyn said he would support amendments to the election bill calling for votes for 16-year-olds and EU nationals with settled status.
Earlier in September, Labour has announced plans to give full voting rights to foreign residents and EU citizens living in the UK. Yesterday, SNP and Lib Dems have also suggested the same idea.
A Motion to extend franchise to millions of immigrants was voted with large majority by Labour members.
The motion was tabled by the Labour Campaign for Free Movement and was passed at the party’s conference in Brighton in September.
A motion passed by delegates at the gathering in Brighton will see the party adopt a promise to "extend equal rights to vote to all UK residents" if it wins power.
The change, which was first revealed by The Independent on Sunday, could have a major impact on future elections and any fresh Brexit referendum. Three million EU nationals residing in UK would a have a say in a potential second referendum.
The immigration motion approved supports the dismantling of the ‘hostile environment’ through a number of measures, from specific legislative moves to broader party campaign objectives.
In the UK, full voting rights are currently limited to citizens of the UK, Ireland and Commonwealth countries. EU citizens living in the UK can vote in local and European elections, but not general elections.
The motion backed in Brighton is committing the party to include the proposals in its next manifesto. The motion states that Labour will campaign for "free movement, equality and rights for migrants", and reject any immigration policies based on "incomes, migrants' utility to business and number caps or targets".
“In 2017, it was a source of shame for many activists that our manifesto included ending free movement. Now we can move forward not only committed to defending free movement, but to giving migrants to vote” said Ana Oppenheim, from the Labour Campaign for Free Movement.
What do you think?
Should Foreign Nationals Have Full Voting Rights in UK?
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67 Responses
The decisions for this country should be made by its citizens, its not for foreign nationals to have an input to our elections as they would vote for the party that would open the doors to let more in
The national interest of a country, in this case, the U.K., should only be decided by her own citizens, and this, of course, include those foreigners who have become British. It is as simple as that.
Foreign nationals and those with multiple citizenships have somewhere else to go in the event that their political decisions destroy this country. For this reason they should not be allowed to vote in any matter that affects this country.
I have lived in Cyprus, who are in the EU, for 12 years and was not permitted to vote in their general elections, only in the local elections so, the same should be the norm in the U.K. I have citizenship in Cyprus so everything should be on a level playing field. Britain for the Brits 👍
Agree,I lived in Australia for 6 years bought some land and built a house and paid council tax, But was not allowed a vote at local elections and definitely not at Gen/ Elects and was not allowed to be a burden on the Australian Tax payer, Quite right, and neither should these foreigners who come to our nation, they should not be allowed to vote on anything relating to the u.k. EVER.
Never have i read so many xenophobic comments ,i am ashamed to be British .
I would hazard the rest of you saying , no we cant vote in Europe why should they be able to vote here , do not live in a European country . In case you are not aware there is a difference between asking uf eu citizens actually living , working , paying taxes should be allowed to vote on their future as opposed to UK citizens living in the UK voting on the EU parliament .
So now you want to not only vite leave but deny others living in the uk their vote . I sincerely hope you all end up with no jobs, no food and the country you desire . Isolated , no NHS as the tories are already in talks to sell it off.
Never have I read such utter tripe. Living, working and paying taxes entitles you to enjoy (or not) public services. Citizenship is your entitlement to vote. It also shows your commitment and contribution to your new homeland. Some are lucky enough to be born into it but immigrants must earn and pay for it. Which is as it should be. And is, by-the-way, the case in all EU countries and probably worldwide. So if you despise people with other opinions than yours you are free to go elsewhere and enjoy that experience. And good luck with that.
Tell me, is English your first language?
I agree to a point. If they have only British citizenship then vote with confidence. But if you have dual citizenship, i say no. You have a conflict of interest.
Excellent comment. I commend you highly mate.
No.
Only if they become naturalised Britons.
If they have citizenship then yes, otherwise no
Only British citizens should be allowed to vote in British elections. My step-father came to Britain in 1950 but, because of his nationality, was not allowed to vote here. My sister, a British citizen, has lived in the United States since 1980 but is not allowed to vote there. If you want a vote in the country you live in you must become a citizen of that country – simples!
Only people who are indigenous to our British Isle’s should vote. People from other countries do not possess any Loyalty to this country, in which case
they have no true interest in it.
Leave voters have no loyalty to our country as they did not vote to remain. It follows of course that they should not be allowed to vote in General Elections.
I think you’ve got that the wrong way round. The true patriots are the leavers not the remainers.
The national interest of a country, in this case, the U.K., should only be decided by her own citizens, and this, of course, include those foreigners who have become British. It is as simple as that.
If there were BORN HERE !!!
I totally agree with that statment
I’d include all you pay their taxes here too.
Because they are foreign nationals. In principle we could let the rest of the world vote in our elections. Do you think they would vote in the interests of the citizens? If they want to keep their foreign nationality then they are free to vote in their own countries’ elections.
They contributed to this country pay their taxes why not ?? Or is it the racist xenophobic little England ers. Who say they can’t??
These people work hard in society in our NHS. Our care systems on our farm land doing jobs that lazy English people don’t want to do so yes they should be able to vote end of
Only british people living here should be allowed to vote in general elections
Only british people living here should be allowed to vote
Opinions change throughout the age ranges and it is not always about maturity I know some very imature 30/40/50/60/ and 70 year olds, even my old mother in law who was in her 90s.Young people are just the sameI have come actoss some very mature 16/17 year olds who would put a lot of us oldies to shame, trust in our youth, the future is theirs, give them the vote.
Commonwealth citizens resident here but not holding a British passport are allowed to vote in our General Elections so why shouldn’t EU citizens? They pay their taxes and contribute to this society so they should be included. I would draw the line at absolutely any foreign national ie not Commonwealth or EU. I don’t believe they should be included.
Absolutely NOT!
Foreigners should not be allowed to vote on any issue in the UK, especially Brexit matters. We have enough problems with the foreigners in our government messing things up without more help from the people that just come and work here.
Yes, of course we should have the right to vote. I am 78 and my husband is 71. We paid our taxes to the UK all our working lives. The taxes paid for our pensions, and our health care. It makes no difference where we are now, it is the responsibility of the government to honour these commitments. We have every right to have our say. More especially, this is relevant, now when what we feel is shame for the behaviour of our parliamentarian representatives, in our still beloved homeland. No, no longer homeland. Birthland.
I don’t think so, what is our country coming to when we let EU citizen vote in our election. And I don’t think 16& 17 year old should have a vote either.
Definitely a resounding NO because as of the moment they are already doing it which is illegal ave it’s vote rigging we couldn’t do it in their country we’d get banged up everyone should carry an ID card as proof
If they are permanently resident here and are subject to taxes and other policies of the UK Government then they should have a vote. No taxation without representation was an early slogan of the Amercican colonists and could equally apply now.
Many foreign nationals have been here 30 or 40 years and still not given permenent leave to remain. “No taxation without representation” used to be the matre of our society. Foreign nationals pay their taxes and have done for years, but struggle to get settled status. Foreign nationals live, work and contribute to our society, they should have a say in who governs them.
These sort of policies should be put in manifesto first not just implemented out of the blue for 600 MPs to decide on
No taxation without representation.
They pay taxes and they should have representation – hence a vote.
I lived in France for 7 years and was allowed to vote in local elections only
as they are not permanent residents and dont hold a gb passport then they should not be able to vote in uk elections,if they wish to then they should hold a uk passport and be a uk national or become a uk national.other countries generally follow this rule.uk should be no different.and as for 16/17 yr olds voting this is only a popularity gimmick,because as most get older their opinions will change with maturity
Totally agree with all of this
What a load of hog wash which countries are these never heard the likes of an Italian lives in the uk for 20 years they still get an Italian state pension wake up man
I agree with everything you said, Mark and would add that 18 to 20 year olds ineed to be informed of the true facts of the odious Corbyn, who is arguably the most anti British and anti Semitic leader of any political party ever!
I totally agree with Mark’s logic and common sense, to allow people under 18 years of age is a vote grabbing tactic from those that are politically naive and to a large extent are indoctrinated to the EU dictatorship.
I can vote in the local elections but not in the national elections in France. The same should apply in the UK. I still cannot understand why the people of Eire (Southern Ireland) have a vote in the UK, and there are a lot of them, but how many UK citizens so you know who have ever voted in Eire. Not many I would hazard a guess at. As for the Liebore stupid idea of dropping the voting age to 16, I would rather it was pushed back up to 21 to allow for some life experience. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland
They came obviously because of our British VALUES and if they dont like our VALUES then they should leave
they can still vote in there own country unless they apply for BRITISH CITIZENSHIP
If they had loyalty to the UK but they haven’t , they should not even have a full british passport in the first ten years we have to put up with all the EU crap it’s time we chose who we want in our country ,not what the EU think we should have
People should be able to vote on issues that affect them. It is absurd that, even if we remain in the European Union, if I live in Germany for five years I won’t be able to vote in Germany unless I take German citizenship, but I can still vote in the United Kingdom, and vice versa.
If they pay NiNo and HMRC tax and C Tax, they have a right to vote as what our politicians do affect their lives
No they don’t
Yes, they must be allowed to vote in local elections, but not in UK national elections or referenda. That’s how it works in the EU.
No they don’t!!! Please read my post, you may learn something of other EU Countries.
I agree!
Stupid idea from Corbyn. Rather like giving the vote to 16 year olds. He’ll just keep on suggesting these stupid ideas in the hope that one might just appeal to someone. As for foreign residents voting, only if they sign a pledge of allegiance to the UK and revoke the citizenship of their parent country. NO dual nationality!
Agree 100%. Corbyn desperate for votes as he knows he wont win without. Also applies to LibDums imho. Crazy.
Yes your right.
Leave things as they are.
it wasn’t long ago that Corbyn wanted Shamina Begum to be allowed back into the country and used her age as she didn’t know what she was getting herself into……. double standards!!
nope we dont have rights in other countries why should we always be the country to be accommodating its time we stood our ground and took back our country the way we want it ….
Yes. If anyone works, pays taxes and contributes to the community and society they live most definitely they should have all the rights of the indigenous population. Anyone who says otherwise are foolish and narrow minded.
I would rather stay “foolish and narrow minded” than have foreigners dictating who runs our country!
BUT I’M NOT EITHER, thats why i voted out of the EU!
DON’T resort to calling people “foolish and narrow minded” either just because YOU don’t agree, it shows you to be the “foolish and narrow minded” one!
At last, a sensible comment from someone who isn’t xenophobic. These numpties will be the first to complain when the EU nationals who keep the NHS above water get pissed off and retutn to their home countries.
if they acquire British citizenship, for whatever reason, by all means
also perhaps in local elections, definitely if they have kids at school, though one must be careful about how this is done
Because it is not democratic to let people of other nations to vote in whatever country they choose to live because they are not native to that land and only native citizens of the country are the people who should only be the ones to decide how they’re country is run by a mandate of its native citizens.
foreign nationals shouldnt vote because British rule is for the British to decided by British people, and foreign nationals can go back to their own country, its no difference then being under dictatorship of another country
Why should they vote, they chose to live in another country we did not send them there. Plus We cannot vote in another country
Absolutely NOT.
ABSURD Suggestion by Clown Corbyn.
I agree with you. The remainers as of Remain ilk would be importing voters from everywhere especially the EU
nope because we do not have the same rights abroad
Abroad? So the UK should set its own domestic policy, but only once that policy that policy is matched by every single other country in the entire world first? i think youll be surprised to know just how many countries abroad UK nationals do have a right to vote in.. Starting with the alphabetical list of 194 nations ( excluding UK) the first on the list is one.. america, south africa, australia…. oh man i dont have the time… But one thing is clear from your comment.. Colonialist island mentality.. it will not be an insult to invite you to look beyond “your own kind ” once in a lifetime or so.
When we live in other Countries we are not allowed to vote unless you have citizenship
Thats why the EU refers to EU citizenship and never to nationality.. I shouldnt have to sacrifice my national identity which is part of who I am as a person just to matter . My opinion about how my life will be run by others can at the least be heard even if it doesnt ultimately chnge anyhing. I cant make people hear me , but I wont let them take my voice.