If you support votes for all expat Brits, add your vote below.

1,028 Comments

  • Royston Snart - 3 years ago

    I have lived in Spain since 1988. The MP of the English constituency where I was last registered to vote does not reply to my emails.

  • Royston Snart - 3 years ago

    I have lived in Spain since 1988. The MP of the English constituency where I was last registered to vote does not reply to my emails.

  • Betty D´Cruz - 3 years ago

    Lived in Spain for 22 years. Our Consuls do NOTHING for us.
    The Spanish govt does more for us than the British.

  • Christina-Marie ABBOTT - 4 years ago

    Lived in France representing British manufacturing company for 14 years and 3 months. Lose my voting right in 9 months time. The government isn't bothered about us, my MP won't even respond to me when I write. Disgraceful disenfranchisement.

  • Nikola Andreou - 4 years ago

    I am not British, my boyfriend is. We live in Cyprus at the moment, with the possibility of moving to another EU member state. He doesn't seem fussed about his voting right but we do think the government in any State has the obligation to give their respective expats an equal right to vote as those who still reside in their country of origin. I would like to know, though, as I am writing a legal blog on this very issue, when exactly did British expats first gain their voting rights?

  • Robert J Clarke - 4 years ago

    Currently with Spanish residency

    Will lose UK vote in 2021

    Tax resident in UK - no taxation without representation

  • Dale Goodier - 4 years ago

    We moved to Germany in January 1987, then to France in mid 1995, where we lived near the Pyrenees until 2016, when as it was getting too hot for us, we moved up to lower Normandy, where we still live. We lost our vote in 2002, and various governments have promised to change this, but as yet, none have altered this situation. We both have English pensions, as well as German and French. We cannot vote here in France, as to take French nationality, was extremely expensive, and long winded. We will move back to the UK, perhaps in thten years or so, but at the moment remain outcasts from our country of birth.
    Intolerable

  • Sarah B - 4 years ago

    Lived and worked abroad for 17 years. Eligible for taxes in Uk. Currently living in Ukraine

  • Colin Harkness - 4 years ago

    Had all British people living in Europe been able to vote in the Referendum re Leaving the EC, I believe the result would have differed, with a majority voting to remain in Europe. I've lived in Spain for over 22 years now and want to exercise my current right to live in other European countries, plus I want this right to be upheld for the younger members of my family should they choose to do so in the future! Also, I view the current state of British politics with sadness. For me neither of the two leading parties are fit for office. Were I able to vote I would do so for the Lib Dems, principally because of their stance on remaining in Europe and because they tell me they would enfranchise all British people, no matter where they live.

  • Jennifer Dey - 5 years ago

    Resident in Belgium (for the time being).

  • Steven Thompson - 5 years ago

    Left UK in 1998, lived in France for a while before settling in Spain where I currently live and pay taxes. I have no right to vote in Spain or the UK or in EU elections. Totally disenfranchised but not exempt from paying taxes!!

  • Lynne Laurent - 5 years ago

    I have lived in France since 2001, married & widowed to à French National. Married in the uk & children born in the UK. Loved to France in 2001 my husband sadly died the end of that year & I stayed because we had a business. One of my now grown children lives & works in the UK & one is still here in France. They are European citizens with the benefit of being 1/2 Brit & 1/2 French. However, my,last legal vote was used for Brexit. I have been shocked at the reason some people voted & feel very strongly that if people had had the information they have now, prior to the referendum, the vote would have been completely different. I now have to go,through the process of getting a carte de séjour in France as well as applying to become a French citizen. How is it that France allows there expats living in the UK, of which there is a large number, to vote for life whilst abroad, yet British citizens are on a limit of 15 years. I am British but also European and want to vote in my country of origin.

  • Carole MISS-JENNER - 5 years ago

    I have lived in Belgium for many years, 20 of which I worked in the European Commission under the UK quota. Living outside the UK I have never felt it would be correct for me to vote in the UK national elections which affect the day to day lives of citizens there. I was however born and brought up in the UK, I am still a UK Passport holder and believe that all of us in the same situation should have had the right to vote in the referendum which will certainly affect all our lives. Many British people I know are feeling forced to take other nationalities (be it Belgian or any other family-related nationality) - how sad it is to deny one's own roots. I hope that British government will take rapid action to change this situation.

  • Keith Elliott - 5 years ago

    We have been living and working in Austria since 1986, and, despite having paid taxes both here and previously in the UK, none of my (now adult) family are allowed to vote in either country.
    This is clearly grossly unfair and discriminatory.
    The Brexit vote was one in which we would have been glad to take part, and whilst our four votes might not have influenced the result, it would have made the result somewhat easier to accept.

  • John Evans - 5 years ago

    I live in Switzerland, 3 kms from the Italian/EU border and I am not allowed to vote in EU elections. Italians living in the same locality have the right to vote. Not only do they have the right to vote in EU elections but thanks to Italian law they can also vote in their own national elections. I accept the UK that does not give me the right to vote in UK elections but I cannot accept that I am not given a right to vote in EU elections as do other foreign nationals. EU law should be the same for all nationals. All nationals residing in a EU country should have the right to vote any national residing outside the EU should not otherwise the EU is not a democratic institution.

  • Trevor Brown - 5 years ago

    I have lived here in Germany since 1986, have spent most of my working life here and have obviously lost my right to vote in Britain. I must admit, not being particularly politically motivated, it did not bother me too much at first; After all I don't live in Britain anymore. Then suddenly came the threat of Brexit which would obviously affect me and my status here considerably and I couldn't exercise a vote against it!
    Married to a German and with one (german) child I daresay my right to stay after Brexit as a Brit would not have been in great danger, but I believe it could have caused a bit of bother as far as legal paperwork etc. is concerned. So, what did I do......? Yes, I became German!! Now I can vote here, too and have dual Nationality and I must say, the Germans did not make it unduly difficult or expensive (unlike the Brits for becoming British).
    After speaking to relatives living in Britain I was actually very surprised who had voted for and who against the Brexit. Anyway, I am convinced that ALL ex-pats should definitely have the right to vote, in particular for such an issue, since we are seriously affected by the outcome.
    My hope is that a second referendum will turn the tables since (a) some of the older folks who still believed in the "good ol' days" and the "GREAT" in Britain have passed away and (b) with all the discussions and exchange of information in the last year or so, many who voted for Brexit mayl have changed their minds. As the Germans say "The hope dies last.........".

  • LINDA STEVEN - 5 years ago

    I'm British and have lived in France permanently since 2002, so we have lost our right to vote in the UK ...yet we pay taxes there and hold British passports. It is outrageous. The government has said several times over the past years that this will change...but WHEN!? Many expats were denied therefore the vote in the referendum too , something which is greatly affecting them . Of concern also is that after Brexit when we Brits are no longer classed as EU citizens, we shall not be allowed to vote in France either. So we shall be completely disenfranchised!

  • gail gordon - 5 years ago

    I live in Spain and altho I do not live in the UK I am extremely interested in the politics especially those which will affect my life and those of my children.

  • Graham Lea-Cox - 6 years ago

    As an international conductor I have spent much of the past 30 years outside the UK on contract.. and even though I still pay taxes in the UK, because I do not now own a house there that I live in ( and therefore do not qualify for inclusion on the voters role), I found myself unable to vote in the last election. This (combined with the madness and potential difficulty of working in Europe after Brexit) is intolerable.

  • Talfryn Finniear - 6 years ago

    Living and working in France for multinational manufacturer since 1997. Feel let down by being a disenfranchised British Citizen, appalled by the hypocrisy of those who claim the UK to be a democracy when so many loyal subjects are denied the vote. In 2018 I am a British Citzen with no right to vote, many people in many countries have lost their lives fighting for the Right to Vote, I réalisé why.

  • Janice Ludwig - 6 years ago

    Lived in Germany 1965-1979, France 1979-2003, moved back to Germany in 2003 where now reside as a pensioner. British Citizen but also acquired German nationality 1966 - before the UK joined the EU!

  • John Tregellas - 6 years ago

    I have been living in the Czech Republic {formerly Czechoslovakia) since 1990. I never seriously considered applying for Czech citizenship until the Brexit Referendum. However, both the result itself and the fact that I was excluded from having any say in a decision which would have far-reaching consequences on me as a British citizen living abroad led to a realization that I now wanted to be a citizen of a state where I have spent the greater part of my adult life and one which will, moreover, not seek to disenfranchise me should I choose to live somewhere else. 2018 is the year in which I will therefore apply for Czech citizenship. Incidentally, an interesting survey on how EU states restrict the voting rights of their citizens in respect of a residence criterion can be found at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2015/564379/EPRS_IDA(2015)564379_EN.pdf There are 6 states in total which have restrictions in place, however, in the case of Germany these are so negligible as not to constitute a real barrier to the exercise of the franchise. The UK thus finds itself in the company of Ireland, Denmark, Cyprus and Malta in laying down strict residence requirements for voters. It is interesting to note that citizens of three of these countries enjoy the right to vote in national elections in the UK if they are resident there. This appears to be a bizarre historical leftover, maybe an attempt to compensate citizens of those countries for the not so distant period in the past when "democratic" Britain assumed rights of sovereignty over them. It is certainly a slap in the face to disenfranchised British citizens to know that the views of Irish, Maltese and Cypriot residents of the UK are considered of more consequence than those of their own citizens.

  • Richard Baber - 6 years ago

    Living in France since 2009

  • Roshana Huggins - 6 years ago

    living in France since 1997

  • Elisabeth McCarty - 6 years ago

    Since 2009 I am resident in France as a British Citizen as is my right as a European. Up to that time I worked and lived in the UK as a responsible citizen. All those years and lives that were lost by men and women over history in the fight for the right to vote ... and now the United Kingdom, known through out the world for being a progressive democracy ... is unwilling, despite its very own promises, to allow a vote for life, even though the decisions taken by those who are chosen to be able to vote, effect everyone, wherever they live, deeply. This in my mind does not constitute a democracy.
    Please return Britain to a full democracy and in this way honour all of its citizens. And then, maybe, the UK can come to the table of Europe as a true peace-keeping member, and contribute as the leader it has the potential to be.

  • Jennifer Parise - 6 years ago

    UK citizen born in England. Worked for a UN organization in Italy. Now living in Portugal. Denying the right to vote to people who have worked and lived abroad for 15 years or more is unjust and undemocratic. If the UK had not enforced this veto on its citizens who live and work outside the UK, the outcome of the Brexit referendum just might have been different but we will never know. We were not allowed to express our vote on a subject which will affect our lives just as much, if not more, than our fellow citizens living in the UK. This is not democracy!

  • Clive Wilson - 6 years ago

    Living in Norway

  • John Brown - 6 years ago

    Living in Belgium since 1996 - I lost my voting rights in UK many years ago, and although this was annoying I didn't worry too much (as I had sold my UK house & don't pay UK taxes any more) until the Brexit referendum, which has a direct impact on me and my family. Yes, the current UK government has said it will address the issue of voting rights for us emigrants in the current parliament, but there is nothing in the legislative agenda to deal with this within the next 2 years. Another broken promise.

  • PeeJay - 6 years ago

    I have worked all of my life and paid my heavy taxes as a single male to the British government. Since early 2005 I have lived in South West France where I spend 2.500€ per winter on heating oil.
    How can the Government make a comparison with the UK' weather and that of the French colonies weather without including all the British territories within the Caribbean? It's just too ridiculous for words. Had this been the case then no-one would be getting the WFP, which would been a fairer option.

  • chris hilton - 7 years ago

    Lived in Germany since August 1989. When I was younger it seemed not to matter that I couldn't vote in UK elections (or indeed German elections). But as time goes by I felt more and more disenfranchised. The small itch really began to hurt. I fixed the problem by getting German citizenship this year. But like many others, I never thought this step would be necessary (or even desirable) and I feel somehow doubly rejected by the UK - originally, by not having a right to vote and now by Brexit. I could handle one rejection, but not both.

  • Lyle Starritt - 7 years ago

    20 years Spain. Appalled by the UK referendum being rigged through denial of the vite... and the Leave campaigners had the nerve to call the EU undemocratic! The most fundamental asoect of democracy is giving all your citizens an equal say.

  • Gwen - 7 years ago

    I've been living in Germany since 1991. I want to return to Britain, but I feel as though I care more about my country than my country cares about me. I want to vote and participate in the democratic process!

  • Helen - 7 years ago

    France

  • Dominic Rainsford - 7 years ago

    UK citizen, living and working in Denmark since 1998. Can't vote in Danish or British national elections.

  • Don Craggs - 7 years ago

    Have now been in retirement in Australia for 18+ years.
    Can't vote in Australia as not a Citizen, and been stopped from voting in the 'Mother Land' because of the over 15 year rule.
    I believe that it is the right of everyone on this Planet, to have the right to vote on how their lives are run.
    I feel somewhat 'Stateless', like when some authority takes possession of your Passport? Not nice!!!

  • Frank Melia - 7 years ago

    United Arab Emirates 21st April 2001

  • Elaine Melia - 7 years ago

    United Arab Emirates 11th September 2001

  • Alan Holmes - 7 years ago

    I left the UK in 1969 after working in the merchant navy for five years. I had not registered to vote at that time and since have always lived and worked abroad. I am now retired and have lived in the Philippines since 2002. Having paid all my UK taxes when required and National Insurance contributions, not only am I disenfranchised I am not permitted to use the NHS.

  • Sally Hill - 7 years ago

    I left the UK back in 1989 when I was 19 and never registered to vote. I currently live in the Netherlands and am now entitled to vote here. Would also very much like to have a say in the UK where things seem to be getting out of hand.

  • Marianne Marsh - 7 years ago

    I have lived in Paris since I retired in 2007. I opted for postal voting in 2010. I was denied my voting rights by not receiving my 'postal' papers until the day after the election, and I gathered that thousands of others, including the armed services on deployment, suffered the same fate. Because of this experience my husband and I travelled to London to cast our votes in person in the EU referendum. No other country sets a 'use-by' date for its citizens' democratic rights. My Britishness will not expire after 15 years, but it looks as if my rights will.

  • Hugo Mallet - 7 years ago

    I have lived in Germany since 1992. As far as I can see, my only possibility to vote is for the lord mayor of our town. Was disgusted to learn of the 15 year rule. Especially as no attempt was made to contact me.

  • Alan - 7 years ago

    I live in Switzerland since October 2001

  • Richard Bower - 7 years ago

    I have lived and worked in France for 38 years, with a French wife and 3 bi-national, bi-cultural and bi-lingual children, of whom I am exremely proud. I have always felt that we were part of an open-minded, tolerant and progressive society, Europe, which allowed me to retain my culturally British identity whilst blending in to my French home. Stupidly I ignored the fact that being disenfranchised 23 years ago effectively put an end to my Britishness in terms of rights. Being European, it didn't seem to matter. Brexit shows that it did. Belatedly, I now support the movement for votes for expat Brits. I wish I had done so many years ago.

  • Jill Conway-Fell - 7 years ago

    I have lived and worked in Denmark since I was young, when I was employed at the British Embassy in Copenhagen, after which I was employed by The World Health Organization's (WHO) Regional Office for Europe.
    It has been a source of irritation and anger that I lost my right to vote in the UK, in spite of the fact that I am a first-generation UK citizen, especially in view of the fact that citizens of numerous other EU Member States retain a lifetime vote in their countries of origin.
    It is about time that we are granted a vote for life, putting us on an equal footing with others.
    Brexit makes it even more imperative that our vote in the UK be restored.
    As others have commented, a considerable number of retirees would vote Conservative, so please ensure that immediate action is taken.

  • Del - 7 years ago

    Where's our vote? as a passport holding UK expat whose life will be just as affected as anyone living in the UK the surely I and a couple of million others like should have been eligible to vote! they omitted a couple of million very interested parties that almost certainly would have stopped this joke of a so called referendum in it's tracks.

    So, where is our vote?

  • Giorgio Greening - 7 years ago

    I have lived in Germany since 1975 and have never voted in my life. I am not German, so I can not vote in German elections and I was 16 when I left the UK so I have never voted in the UK. I am keenly interested in UK politics and it is inexplicable that I can not not participate in the democratic process.

  • Betty Chatterjee - 7 years ago

    I have lived in Denmark since 1972. Until the law was changed last year making it possible have joint citizenship, it did not occur to me to apply for Danish citizenship. I was happy with my status as an expat Brit in Denmark. After all Britain and Denmark are both member states of.the EU and I have a very strong sense of European identity. Just after Brexit I send in my application for Danish citizenship and I hope it is granted before Britain finally leaves the EU. In the meantime my interest in British politics has been sharpened. I have joined the Lib Dems and given the chance, would most certainly vote in British elections.

  • Richard Scivier - 7 years ago

    I am now retired and living in the UK, having returned to the UK in 2008. I am however in contact with former colleagues in the countries where I have worked as an English teacher (France, Spain, Kuwait, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia). Some who are married to overseas spouses are seriously considering taking up citizenship of their spouses and children. The 15-year time limit rule we have in the UK has badly affected those working overseas and in the EU - these people are most affected by the results of the EU referendum. The present government says it is considering removing the time limit rule, but that is too late for the last referendum and the results unless there is a second EU referendum. Countries like Spain and France do not have the time limit rule for their citizens and can vote wherever they are living. Indeed France has a deputy for all French citizens living in Northern Europe, which means mostly the UK!

  • William Ould - 7 years ago

    I served in HM Forces for 33 years after which I was discharged locally in Germany in 1996 and have remained here with my German born wife our daughters and grand children ever since. All my working life I have been a British Tax Payer and still am today through my forces pension. I vote in local and European elections and find it absolutely disgusting that I am not allow to vote in the country of my birth and to which I pay taxes. I was not able to vote in the referendum (I did ask) I would have voted to remain, and now I find my livelihood endangered due to the fall of the Pound and eventually loss of my status as an EU resident. I have no wish to become an immigrant nor change my Nationality, or have to request a visa to visit my homeland.

  • Ian C - 7 years ago

    I have lived in Austria since 1981. I can vote here in local and European parliamentary elections but once Britain leaves the EU I will be totally disenfranchised. Being given back the right to vote in the UK would help. However, as successive British governments have never bothered about the ex-pat community I cannot see this happening soon.

  • roger toft - 7 years ago

    I moved to Paris in 1964 and then to Brussels in 1966. At the time I believe expats were denied the right to vote. When they did get it, 5 years then 20 years ( which Blair reduced to 15 ) was the applied ''time bar''. In these instances this left me each time unable to vote in U..K. elections. Result : the so-called ''Mother of Democracy'' has deprived me of the right to vote throughout my entire life. Had I been born in a Continental country like France, and gone to life in London in 1964, I would have been allowed to vote in French national elections. I come from a fairly active family politically speaking in England, and I guess that I have a better grasp of what goes on in Westminster than many voters living in the U.K. But this all shows that Britain, having not signed all the aricles of the Human Bill of Rights, has no qualms about depriving citizens of them.

  • Pat Hall - 7 years ago

    Lived in France since 2008 but STILL British citizen and therefore should be entitled to vote in the UK

  • plunkch - 7 years ago

    Resident in France since 2004 and before that in Belgium for 30 years, so deprived of a vote for many years! Following referendum results, considering taking French nationality

  • Kay Bruhin - 8 years ago

    Living in Switzerland for many years. I can vote here but not in England

  • Susan Reynolds - 8 years ago

    I just watched the three-hour parliamentary debate on the question of "Rules triggering a second EU referendum" held in response to the 4 million-plus signatures calling for this. I waited anxiously for comments on the situation of UK nationals living, working etc. in other EU countries but heard only three references, none of which noted that many of us are disenfranchised and could not therefore vote in the referendum. While many of the speakers spoke passionately about democracy, none mentioned the gaping hole in British democracy that is this disenfranchisement. We are quite simply second class citizens with second class passports. We will have no representation in the forthcoming Brexit and will have to cope with whatever the champions of democracy decide for us.

  • Carolyn - 8 years ago

    I have lived in Luxembourg and Brussels for 42 years and have been disenfranchised the entire time, since I left the UK. Worked for 35 years as an EU civil servant so it's then ironic that I get no vote in the EU referendum. The fact that during all these years colleagues from 27 member states did get to vote in their national elections, and only the Brits didn't, is not only undemocratic but pure discrimination!

  • Tony Gorman - 8 years ago

    I am coming up to 15yrs in Spain and feel ignored by my home country UK After years working paying taxes and everything I wont be able to vote soon. No taxation without representation . Give us the vote! Bet this is easy compared to the Brexit shambles

  • Shân Williams - 8 years ago

    I have lived in France for 26 years,teaching English and employed as a French civil servant. I supported all the campaign to have a vote in the referendum on Brexit to no avail.I voted in British elections during the fifteen years that it was allowed. I feel very strongly that it isn't right that I have no general election vote anywhere.I contribute to the British economy paying local tax,as I own a flat in the UK.

  • Phil Christmas - 8 years ago

    Spain: 26 years

  • John Mellor - 8 years ago

    I am disgusted by the cynical disenfranchisement of so many British expatriates. It is a clear and flagrant violation of our constitutional rights.
    Who represents us now that BREXIT has been decided by a referendum skewed by the exclusion of millions of British expats?
    Who will defend our rights?

  • Caroline - 8 years ago

    I have been living in Italy for over 30 years. Votes for expats!

  • John BUSSEY - 8 years ago

    I have lived in France 9 years.

  • Wendy Fowler - 8 years ago

    I am in the same position as many commenting here: I have lived in France for 27 years, and have no desire to return to the UK even if I could afford to do so), having built a house here. I feel european and I am infuriated that the British Government seems set on removing the UK from Europe, but I had no vote in the momentous decision.

  • Phil Evans - 8 years ago

    I live in Hong Kong. Since the EU Referendum I have become motivated to vote and contribute to UK politics. I do not plan to return to the UK but want to ensure that I still have a voice in the country my friends and family live in and I don't want that to have a time limit.

  • David Josling - 8 years ago

    Having lived in Germany since 1979, the time has come for our voices to be heard in the UK. Living outside of the UK should not exclude our right to be democratically heard.

  • Alison - 8 years ago

    Living in Spain for 32 years

  • Sean Sullivan - 8 years ago

    Because of the systematic de-industrialisation of the UK throughout my adult life I have found it necessary to be living and working abroad since the early 90s. I'm rapidly approaching the end of my useful working life without any significant pension to fall back on. My exit plan had been to see out my later years in a much more affordable EU and take short contract jobs under the freedom of movement in the EU. Thanks to Brexit my plans have been blown sky high, and our future looks very bleak indeed! We are now hoping for Parliament to end this madness. Sadly, as I'm in Qatar, I am not in a position to start applying for citizenship of one of the remaining EU countries.

    I was incensed that I was deprived of my vote in the referendum, only a 600,000 vote swing would have secured our continued membership, a near certainty if expats were allowed to vote?

  • Caroline Taunt - 8 years ago

    Having lived here in Germany for 36 years I was so fed up of being. 'non person' i.e. a person not permitted to vote in a general election either here or in my home country the UK, that I applied for and was granted German citizenship last year. This form of forced 'electoral neutering' seems absurd, particularly in the light of the European Idea - but considering recent events in the UK, it is not surprising I guess. I'd like to add that I have been a local councillor here in Germany for the past 6 years, but without the right to vote in a general election. Now at last I feel I have a voice again. I thoroughly endorse the effort being made to reclaim the right to vote for all expats!

  • Clare Hepburn - 8 years ago

    I share the fury and frustration of most posting here, having been unable to vote in the UK referendum despite holding British nationality.

    I live in France and will be applying for French nationality as soon as I can get together the relevant paperwork. After the shambles of the referendum I have no desire to leave my future in Europe in the hands of UK politicians and negotiators.

    I will be following with interest Harry Shindler's attempt to take his case against denial of voting rights to the UN and would be keen to help if I can...

  • Jonathan Cornelius - 8 years ago

    The electoral commission says: "Voting is your democratic right as a citizen of the UK." (http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/register-to-vote). Not true. This unfair, arbitrary and hurtful law needs to be changed. UK citizenship is my birthright and so should be the right to vote on decisions that affect me and my family.

  • Penny Gate - 8 years ago

    I have lived in Italy for 25 years and can vote neither here nor in the UK. I agree there needs to be an emergency petition for expats without a vote in conjunction with the demand for a second referendum because our vote would have made the difference in the first one: There are 2 million UK citizens living in Europe and this was about us. Yes, I agree the case should be brought before the European Court of Human Rights.

  • Linda Geller - 8 years ago

    I am British living in Belgium and I didn’t vote in the referendum because:
    Despite getting a letter of thanks from the Prime Minister for manning the telephones at the British Embassy in Brussels when the Herald of Free Enterprise went down in 1987;
    Despite being voted a “Highly Ranked Commercial Officer” by UK companies (published in the Telegraph in 2006);
    Despite receiving a commendation in 2011 signed by the Foreign Secretary William Hague for “25 years loyal service and contribution to the advancement of British interest overseas” for my work at the UK Representation to the EU;
    Despite , during those years, helping many UK companies big and small to win contracts on EU funded projects all over the world (worth many millions of Euros);
    Despite ,because of my work and contacts with both the European Commission and other EU Member States, knowing a fair bit about how it all works;
    AND despite paying UK taxes all that time;
    I WAS NOT ALLOWED TO VOTE IN THE REFERENDUM as I had lived outside the UK for more than 15 years.
    I couldn’t have done any of those things to help my country by sitting on my backside in the UK. And, while I was doing those things, my children and grandchildren were growing up here. But the Supreme Court, in its Supreme wisdom, decided people like me shouldn’t be given the vote (at the moment).
    So what should I, a 70 year old widow, living here in a foreign country, do now? Leave my home and family and move back to the UK? (assuming it still exists)
    Or toddle down to the Town Hall tomorrow morning and apply to become Belgian?
    NO CONTEST!!! Belgium and the European Union I’m here to stay - or perhaps I should say REMAIN!

  • Adam Harding - 8 years ago

    I live in Japan, and the end of July marks the 15th year since I left England.
    According to my county council back in England, I'll lose the right to vote this November.

    The Chief Justice's claim that suffrage should be denied because of "weakening ties with Britain" is as muchof an embarrasment as the recent racist behaviour demonstrated by the British people in the wake of the EU referendum result.

    Video calls, emails, Facebook and other technologies allow people to stay in daily communication regardless of the distance or time difference.

    Claiming that ties with a mother country will be weakend by living elsewhere is just an excuse for the poor management of personal information by the British government.

    An article in The Guardian reads:
    The ruling also noted that there would be “significant practical difficulties about adopting, especially for this referendum, a new electoral register which includes non-resident British citizens whose last residence in the UK was more than 15 years ago”.

    This is also ridiculous. Embassies and consulates could be considered as electorial registration offices and equipped to handle such a function quite easily. Expats are (or used to be?) encouraged to register with their local embassy or consulate in case of emergency situations such as acts of god, terrorism, etc. so the British government would have had the contact information of registered expats to hand anyway.

    Link to the Guardian Article:
    http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/apr/28/british-expats-lose-legal-battle-right-to-vote-eu-referendum

  • SOPHIE BENNETT - 8 years ago

    ... and yes, I too would like to see the case brought before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

  • SOPHIE BENNETT - 8 years ago

    I've lived in various countries, because my work as a translator requires me to live and work abroad, since 2000.
    In the meantime, I have paid income tax, council tax and voluntary national insurance contributions in the UK. I maintain family ties, property and friendships in the UK, and visit frequently.
    NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!
    Since 2015, I can't vote in the UK; nor can I vote in France, where I have lived for seven years, either.
    Most infuriating of all, I have been denied the right to vote in the European referendum, the result of which directly affects me - and my young daughter - far more than any Little Englander.
    I want to see the law denying me representation changed. I am both British AND European.

  • Margaret Kings - 8 years ago

    I have been resident in Germany since 1974, when my husband was seconded by his British firm to work in its office and factory in Hamburg. So far we have retained our British nationality and we have a second home in the UK However we were denied one of our most fundamental human and civil rights as UK citizens, namely a vote in the EU referendum. Should we expats not bring a case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg?

  • Neale Bairstow - 8 years ago

    I have lived and worked in France for 25 years.
    Married to a French woman, we have a dughter who has dual nationality. Iam completely disgusted that so many of us, who have lived out a large part of our lives as the oft-cited ' ambassadors for Britain', should have been excluded from this over-ridingly important vote (and other UK voting procedures as well). Like many others, not having French nationality, I am also excluded from voting in national French elections. When living in Britain I devoted much time to working for Amnesty International. How ironic that at this stage of my life I should become one of the world's democratically unrecognised....ironic and, ultimately, deeply shameful.

  • Rachel Copley - 8 years ago

    I moved to Germany in 1989. I have British nationality and not German.
    Until now I didn't think it important to be able to vote in the UK anymore. The politics in Germany are the ones that affect me most but I cannot vote on a national level here either.
    The referendum though affects me directly in my chosen country of residence - it doesn't just affect the people in the UK. Therefore I now feel cheated of my right to vote.

  • Beverley Craig - 8 years ago

    I have lived and worked in two E.U member states since 1978 ; I took advantage of the opportunities Britain's membersip meant as did many of my generation.I can see no valid reason or explanation as to why the recent referendum ignored my basic human voting rights...I am British , living in the E.U and voiceless and powerless. I do not understand why Brits in Gibraltar could vote but not us. I feel badly let down by the Britsh voting system ...it seems that George Orwell was right yet again ... ´ all Brits are equal but some are more equal than others'. A final word in response to the shameful NHS video used by Britexiters...I worked in the NHS before our entry into the E.U and believe me there were queues,understaffing and medical staff back discontent in the 'good old days' !

  • Peter Blair - 8 years ago

    I've come to this site after signing the petition for a second referendum. If you haven't done so yet, I urge all of you who read this to sign as well. Besides this, we should also be thinking of sending a second parliamentary petition for the fifteen-year voting rule to be lifted so we can exercise such a basic right as being able to have our say on our future.

    As for my personal situation, it is the following. I am a British resident in Valencia, Spain, where I live with my Spanish wife and our Anglo-Spanish son. Fifteen years ago I passed a competitive exam for a teaching post in the state education system, which makes me a minor civil servant. I've never applied for Spanish citizenship simply because it wasn't necessary to. Now Brexit's changed all that. In Spain you have to be Spanish to be a civil servant or be a national of an EU member state. First thing tomorrow morning I'll be looking up lawyers to help me process my application for Spanish citizenship.

  • Sue Fownes-Dijoux - 8 years ago

    My own country, the nationality of which I have never given up despite living in France for 25 years, has stripped me of a basic, democratic human right - to vote in referendum which has a direct consequence on my identity as a citizen of that country.
    I am British and European. Now, thanks to misinformed and naive bigots, I can no longer combine both. Nor can the future generations of the UK (how will it be renamed now as it is no longer united). Luckily, I have the option of adopting another nationality - unlike the British youth. Until now, I have always rejected this option, being proud of my Britishness. Now my country has left me with no choice!

  • Frances Cui - 8 years ago

    I came to France on a two year contract in 1979. Then I met my husband (who is Chinese) and decided to stay for a bit longer. In 1985 I considered returning to UK, but decided to take up the offer of a job in Paris rather than in the Civil service in UK. There was never a specific decision to stay in France it just happened. As a result I am now unable to vote in any national elections, being barred from UK by the 15 year rule and in France as I am not French. For me this is undemocratic and deprives me of a fundamental civic right. In particular this is unacceptable in the case of the referendum on the Brexit as those who will be most affected by it have not been allowed to express their views and yet they will be the most affected by the UK leaving the EU. How can they say the British people have spoken? I think this referendum should be considered null and void and reprogrammed at a date when all British citizens can participate.
    I have never considered taking any other nationality as my children all feel profoundly British and speak English as their mother tongue even though they are unable to pass this heritage onto their own children because of another restriction on British citizens. My son and his wife live and work in London and my two girls both dream of living in England. All my children have dual nationality (British and French - because of this non eligibility to vote for British citizens abroad) with the result that my son can vote both in England and in France, whereas I can vote nowhere and have not been able to do so for the last 17 years. Is this democracy or egality of rights?

  • Rachel Pugh - 8 years ago

    Florence, Italy.
    I've been living here for over 25 years.
    I can't vote in Italy and I can't vote in the UK.
    A bag of beans.

  • Alison - 8 years ago

    I've lived in Germany since 1990. It is scandalous that UK citizens who have lived abroad for over 15 years should not be able to vote in the EU referendum, and should not have a say in what will affect them directly. I'm completely disenfranchised, not able to vote in parliamentary elections either in Germany or the UK. If Britain is taken out of the EU, I won't be able to vote in elections for the EU parliament either. Not to the prospect of future uncertainty on how an exit decision would affect my life.

  • Brian Critchley - 8 years ago

    I have been living in the United States for 32 years. At one time I was able to vote in British elections but that right was removed some years ago. Yet another stitch-up by U.K. government. The denial of pension increases to British expatriates who have paid their contributions but have the misfortune to live in a Commonwealth country is another example. A long history of broken promises over many years by both major parties ( when in opposition ) to put right a shameful injustice.

  • Timothy Wray - 8 years ago

    I've lived and worked in Germany since 1994. I too am deeply frustrated over not being able to vote in the upcoming referendum. Those that are most affected and probably best informed have no say in the decision. That is not democratic and the outcome will certainly not represent all britsh people, however the vote goes.

  • BernardDuffy andElizabeth Carter - 8 years ago

    As it will effect us all we must vote stay

  • Maureen Bailey - 8 years ago

    We have lived in Spain since 2002,we love life here, and dread the thought of having to return to the u.k as many ex-pats do. We are British and should have a right to vote especially as it might affect our future.

  • Anne Humphreys - 8 years ago

    I've lived and worked in Germany for the last 22 yrs. Only discovered quite recently that I'm now disenfranchised by the 15 yr rule. Now applying for German citizenship so that I can carry on being European if Britain votes Out on June 23rd.

  • Gary The Expat - 8 years ago

    I have lived in Australia for 58 years and have supported the English Cricket Team (especially against Australia) throughout and I reckon that entitles me to vote!

    I support Brexit!

  • Alan Hogg M.A. - 8 years ago

    I have been living for over thirty years in Germany and have paid regular visits to the UK during this period. Thus I consider myself to be well qualified to vote in the Brexit referendum. I see no justification for excluding expats from this vote, especially as the result might closely affect them. What happened to the British sense of fairness ?

  • Dr Mark Springett - 8 years ago

    I worked for 23 years in the UK then since 1998 I have worked in France. I consider myself firstly British but always part of the Eoropean community with all the opportunities for work and career development that gives. To be denied voting rights on Brexit is a scandal and discrimanatory against a large group of British citizens who will be the most impacted by an exit vote. Postal votes have been available for all other elections why is the most important one,Brexit being denied to expats?

  • Laura Gouvras - 8 years ago

    I have lived in Luxembourg since 1982

  • Bill Spears - 8 years ago

    Despite the great work of Harry Schindler, I think it is time to make contingency plans for the situation that his appeal for reason fails. In that case we had better have a vote by June 23rd of all those disenfranchised by the UK who are British Citizens resident in Europe. Given that we may shortly be left stranded outside the UK by the action of those British Citizens living in the UK with the collusion of the UK Government, our vote could nevertheless be crucial in decision-making at the European level on our future should the "official" vote be a narrow one in favour of leaving. Of course our vote would have to be done in a foolproof way, with one vote per eligible person per address in Europe, so that the results stand up to scrutiny.
    Is there any plan to do this? In which case now would be the time to advertise it!

  • Fiona Carless - 8 years ago

    I've lived and worked in France for over 25 years, however my connection to the UK is very strong and I return approx once a month for a few days to help care for my sick elderly mother. I still own property there, make tax declarations, have a pension, bank accoutns and credit cards. I find a lot of ex-pats in my position are more patriotic than many residents of the UK and we guard our citizenship passionately. To be denied the vote in a decision that could, in the future, impact on our status in our current country of residence is I feel a breach of our human rights.

  • Andrew Barnaby - 8 years ago

    I have lived in Italy since 1981, but I have always kept my connection with the UK. Not being able to vote in a referendum which is not an abstract thing, but something concrete, involving my past, my present and my future is simply not acceptable, nor legal in my view.

  • Raj - 8 years ago

    Scandinavia and German. What happened to the promise in 2014/15 from David Cameron? As part of his campaign promises was clearly stated, that he would cancel the 15-year-rule and do an in-out referendum. WHY did he carry out his word on the latter, and neglect the former? This is completely out of order.

    I am as pro Britain as one can be, and I am for the European project and our integral place within the EU: I want our generation and the one coming to CONTINUE to have access to the same rights of life, study and work, as I and hundreds of thousands of fellow Britons have on the continent, and that other Brits back home especially the older generation to realise, just what they are potentially cut us off from. I don't want us as UKIP fantasies to be stuck with either the commonwealth or the anglo-saxon world—how limiting and boring—I want us and the coming generations to have full access to our neighbours, to a richer affordable diversity of European culture and life opportunities in terms of work, studies, etc.

    Cutting us off, who live in other EU-countries makes the IN-side in this referendum underrepresented. This is not just a shame, it is unjust.

  • Thalia Verheyen - 8 years ago

    I have lived in Europe since I was a child - first in Germany and now in the Netherlands. It was not my descision to leave Britain and returning was never really an option due to family ties on the continent. In spite of not being in the UK I was brought up to be 'British' and value my nationality. Giving it up to become German or Dutch never entered my head - even though always being the 'foreigner' comes with its own set of disadvantages - of which never having been able to vote in any General Election is merely the most obvious! I accept these disadvantages - being British means more to me. Or I did till this referendum came along in which I will - once again - not be allowed to vote due to an arbitrary law the British government knows to be wrong and outdated and which it promised to change. That governments do not fullfil their promises is a sad fact of life but what is worse is the treatment we have received by the High Court. Formally their ruling may be in accordance with the law but materially it contradicts every democratic principle imaginable. Being an Expat is not illegal it is our right yet we are being treated like convicted criminals serving a jail sentence. Our entire lives are being put in jeopardy and we are not even allowed a voice and why? Because giving us a vote would pose 'significant practical difficulties'. And to top it all off the internet is full of gleeful comments by my so-called 'countrymen' applauding this decision saying that the referendum has nothing to do with us as we bug....d off to swig Sangria in the sun and we should have come back (or better still never left) if we'd wanted a vote. Apart from the fact that this is a blatant display of very Un-british schadenfreude delivered - more often than not - in language better suited to a drunken brawl than a portal for comments on a serious matter it shows their total ignorance of and/or indifference to the many reasons people have for leaving the UK - not to mention a lack of imagination when it comes to realising the problems people face and the resulting impossibility of simply dropping everything and returning.

    I am absolutely disgusted by the treatment we are receiving from our politicians, our judicial system and a lot of our fellow Britons. I realise that our votes may tip the balance in a direction certain elements of our society would not wish for but is that fear a good enough reason to abandon what is are quintessential British values: democracy and fair play?

  • Lauren Mannion - 8 years ago

    I'm outraged that the UK citizens with the most to lose if we leave the EU have no right to vote in the referendum. I currently live in Latin America, lived in Spain for 8 years before that and am about to move to the Netherlands. I'm terrified that the UK will end up leaving and am already looking into getting Irish citizenship through my grandmother in order to keep my EU rights.

  • Alexandra O'Brien - 8 years ago

    I currently live in central Pennsylvania. I came to the US in 1992 for graduate school. I became a US resident in July 2001 and thus will have been a US resident for 15 years this coming summer. However, I lost my UK vote after 15 years outside the UK despite being a UK resident (student visas are not residency). I have had no vote anywhere for several years.

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