So Brits who live abroad can now vote in the General Election.

Joseann, DS and family live in Spain. My eldest DGD is at a British university and was able to get loans for fees and maintenance as she was born in England and has a British passport. The other two are not able to at the moment as they were born in Spain and only have a Spanish passport. (I am not sure if they could get a British one as father is British. ) Second DGD has decided to pursue a course in Spain, whilst my DGS is still at school so not relevant at the moment.

The other thing I believe I'm right in saying, is that children of expats attending a UK university cannot apply for student loans in the same way. So not only are their fees more expensive, but their families need to find additional money for living costs.
I'm of the opinion that if you move abroad, you need to factor in everything it will cost you. That's why I get cross when expats complain about things like fluctuations in the exchange rate or that they don't receive the heating allowance.

My family live overseas and do not feel they have the right to vote in UK elections.
Why would they?

They are invested in the countries they moved to now.
If they do ever return they will then vote here.

I’m shocked with how the French deal with a lot of things, but particularly the asylum seekers.

So only Joseann mentioned my point. Thank you Joseann.

So it’s okay for all the ex pats who have lived abroad for 15 years or more to have their vote, and apparently it’s also okay for British children, taken abroad by their parents in their childhood, to pay university fees as international students because they are regarded as foreign students.
So now I understand, it’s all about you, and what you want. Basically you don’t even care enough to comment about the huge disadvantage that British children face if wishing to return to study in a Britain to university. That is a huge disadvantage for them, but never mind, you’ve got your vote.

Joseann

Not really to do with this discussion, but in response to your post about homeless people in London, Dinahmo, I'm shocked at the French way of dealing with this problem. Just bus the homeless out of Paris each week off to the provinces! All in an effort to tidy up the capital for the Olympic Games.

So was London tidied up for the Olympics. All the homeless seemed to disappear.

Not really to do with this discussion, but in response to your post about homeless people in London, Dinahmo, I'm shocked at the French way of dealing with this problem. Just bus the homeless out of Paris each week off to the provinces! All in an effort to tidy up the capital for the Olympic Games.

Currently, I am an expat and am registered to vote. I do know a lot about my area. I belong to the group in my block of flats and that is one of my interests. Then I am a member of my local Next Door. I read our local papers plus 3 nationals and have friends in London. I am a party member so know what is going on in my constituency. I guess I do know more than many people who have no interest in politics. If I was not interested then I would not bother to vote.

harrigran

My DD has lived abroad for 14 years and no I don't think she should be able to vote. If you leave the country of your birth then live by the rules of where you have settled.

What do you mean by your last sentence?

What would you say if your DD wanted to vote in the UK. Would you go to the extreme of falling out with her? That's what happened with several people after the Brexit vote.

I would think that most of us live by the rules of our country of residence. That has nothing to do with us voting in the UK should we chose to do so.

icanhandthemback

How does this ex-pat vote work though? When I vote, I vote for my candidate who represents this area rather than a party although I am aware that I may be voting for a party loyal. How do Ex-Pats vote for a particular Constituency? Do they vote for Councillors too?

You vote in the constituency where you last lived in the UK. You can do it by postal vote or use a proxy who will vote for you in that constituency.

How does this ex-pat vote work though? When I vote, I vote for my candidate who represents this area rather than a party although I am aware that I may be voting for a party loyal. How do Ex-Pats vote for a particular Constituency? Do they vote for Councillors too?

I find the best way of knowing what’s really going on where I live is the community Facebook page, everything is on there from planning permission, empty shops, schools,, who’s died, had children or got married, local businesses, events, down to lost dogs, children’s toys and glasses. The whole gamut of local life. I could move 10000 miles away and still feel part of everything that’s going on. I’m not defending people who left the UK over 15 years ago still being able to vote, just saying that these days you don’t need to live somewhere to be fully au fait with the comings and goings.

M0nica, your points on living in the community and knowing it's needs are spot on. I know about these as my children still live in the same constituency, so not ignorant about the current situation. However these points are just part of the bigger picture. I stand by my reasons for wanting to vote as stated in my earlier post.

Also I always vote when I am able to as people died getting the vote for the whole population, not just women. So I wish to uphold this right whenever possible.

My DD has lived abroad for 14 years and no I don't think she should be able to vote. If you leave the country of your birth then live by the rules of where you have settled.

One the that struck me over the last year or two was the increase in food banks in the UK. That and the number of people sleeping in the streets. The last time we were in London, pre covid, I was shocked at the numbers in Central London around Covent Garden and The Strand for example.

When we moved to Suffolk I started volunteering with Save The Children. Before then I had not done any voluntary work or even made donations apart from putting a few coins in a tin. I became increasingly aware of the demand for funds by the various charities and subscribed to the local Wildlife Trust, Amnesty International and animal charities. The Christmas before last there were a number of adverts for The Trussell Trust, Sally Army and so on. For the first time in my life, my donations went to those two charities and other homeless ones.

That is one reason why I am shocked by what is happening in the UK right now.

People have a number of different reasons for leaving the UK. When we left no one had thought of leaving the EU. The country seemed to be on an even keel and, for most of us, all was right with the world.

We had a nice house, good friends and a good lifestyle. We weren't wealthy but, approaching retirement (me at 60) we wondered what we would do with our lives.

We wanted a project and had thought about buying some land and building a house in England. Unfortunately the price of land was extortionate. I had been going on to my DH for several years about having a holiday home in France. He was reluctant, having spent his adult life, part time, working on our homes.

So we decided to move to France. we bought a plot of land and had a house built. We had no thoughts as to whether we would stay or return to England.

One of the things I like about France is the countryside. I grew up in Dorset and my DH in Kent. In both counties tracts of beautiful countryside have been destroyed by road building. He used to cycle in the Nashenden Valley looking for fossils and snakes etc. That was bisected by the M2 and more recently the TGV line. Where we now live reminds of me of that 50's countryside. It is very much like Southern England - fields, woods etc but the climate is a little more extreme. Usually if it's hot in the UK it's hotter here. If it rains we get more.

If any of us decry the UK - it's not the country but the Tory govt.

I would change it around and say anyone who’s a British citizen but chooses to live abroad for longer than five years loses the right to vote here.

Exactly maddyone, our children were foreign students at University because we had just relocated abroad at that time. They went on to do their Masters too. Their fees were considerably higher than other UK students. The irony is that these same children now work in the UK and are in the higher rate tax bracket. But, c'est la vie.
In the past, there were a lot of people giving fake UK addresses and finding loopholes to avoid such rules. I'm for fairness all round, and if the Expat vote is allowed, then plenty of other things need to be granted too.
To my mind, the Expat vote will be inconsequential, but it's the principle.

I am surprised that voters, living in U.K., actually are of the opinion that they INFLUENCE any of the political decision, made by any of the parties in office. Furthermore it might be interesting to examine which policies they think they influenced. That have made this country a better place to live. As surely this is the ultimate objective. Who indeed has voted for the state we are in? Would anybody?

Well I hope that since British people who haven’t lived in Britain since they were children, maybe not lived here almost their whole lifetime, are now going to be allowed to vote, that British children who have been taken abroad to live by their parents, will now be allowed to come back to British universities and only pay the same fees as other British children pay, rather than be charged far more, because they are considered to be foreign students now.

British for a vote.
Foreign when paying university fees (even though still a citizen of Britain and only allowed to reside in another country due to their parents residency rights)

nanna8

I haven’t read a British newspaper since the early 1970 s but I do watch YouTube with British news ( very biased,though). Mostly it is the dreaded Nigel Farage who tends to be very,very negative about the UK. We really hear almost nothing here and that it why I like to read gransnet. I wouldn’t think that would qualify me as a voter, if I followed what I hear on YouTube I would be to the right of Genghis Khan in my views !

If you call Farage 'dreaded' you can't be all bad, nanna8 😆

It seems as if basically anyone who has lived in UK for whatever period of time but has chosen to live elsewhere can now vote.

M0nica
Quite honestly, there are people who live in a constituency and have no clue what is going on!

I haven’t read a British newspaper since the early 1970 s but I do watch YouTube with British news ( very biased,though). Mostly it is the dreaded Nigel Farage who tends to be very,very negative about the UK. We really hear almost nothing here and that it why I like to read gransnet. I wouldn’t think that would qualify me as a voter, if I followed what I hear on YouTube I would be to the right of Genghis Khan in my views !

I agree with you Nandalot. I am an expat Scot living in The Netherlands. Why should
I have a right to vote in the UK when I don't own property or pay taxes there? I am passionate about Scotland being independent and I would love to vote for it, but, as tempting as it is, I no longer have that right.

Even if there was a specific expat constituency
Ooo I'd like to be the MP for a constituency made up of expats! Ìt would be a fairly cushy job.
On the other hand, expats are likely to be the ones with too much time on their hands, so they might be even more demanding.

And think of the additional £92,000 needed to pay for the expats' MP's salary, plus expenses.
It's a good job it wasn't viable.