Ex Pats

[Farriercm]

Should Ex Pats be allowed to vote at the General election????

[ChillDoubt]

Yes.

[andy-hughes]

Subect to certain criteria - yes.

That would need to include being tax liable in the UK, and retaining a domicile - it would be unfair for individuals whose only connection to the UK is having once lived here.

[Old_Geezer]

It is a good question. I think they should be able to vote in either the country of their citizenship, or the country the presently reside in. Its more debatable whether they should be able to do both as they have an interest in both. I tend to think that if there is no immediate plans to return, then they should be considered invalid for the next general election, but the question can be reassessed at the one following it.

[whistonian]

If they are paying tax in uk then YES if not NO.

[Baldric]

Yes they should

[Farriercm]

I believe Ex Pats in Spain for example, who are Legal residents,
are allowed to vote in local elections only, but not in a Spanish, General Election. Are all UK Immigrants allowed to vote in a UK General Election, and can people who have claimed Asylum in the Uk, allowed to vote in a UK G/E ????.

[ichkeria]

Russian citizens living in Estonia, for example, are allowed to vote in local elections but not national ones. But then again, they aren't citizens of Estonia (and they are deemed the descendants of illegal occupiers historically, which is a special case).
However, the fact that Spain, etc, may refuse to allow non-citizens to vote in its national elections is up to them, and shouldn't really influence what we do with them. I think andy's answer is a sensible one.

[janbee]

If they pay tax here then yes, if not, then no

[magicmick]

No, if they choose to live abroad they relinquish the vote for matters that Do not concern them imo.

[Retrochic]

No, unless they are working temporarily abroad. Anyone choosing to leave the UK for good should have no say in how its run.

[paul1763]

no, why should they be allowed to vote in a country they no longer wish to live in, for whatever reason

[sp1814]

If 'an ex-pat' is someone who still has a British passport, then I think they should be entitled to vote in GEs.

However, if they have applied, and got, citizenship (ie. a new passport) for their adoptive country, then no.

[Prudie]

Yes if they are British citizens. Ex-pats are not necessarily emigrants, a lot want to come home eventually.

[Sqad]

For the first ten years, the exPat should be allowed to vote in the UK elections but after that time has elapsed, then he should relinquish the right to vote.
Remember your " exPat" has probably put more tax in the UK coffers than most and should certainly have " bought " some say in the Government of the UK.

On a personal note, I have not voted in UK elections since I " emigrated" in 2001.

[jourdain2]

Having just had a tax demand from HMRC (they miscalculated for a few years) 'no taxation without representation' about sums up my feelings. Also the vast majority of ex-pats have close family in the UK and care very much about what happens in their 'home' country. We're very easy to pick on, e.g. withdrawal of Winter fuel allowance (it reached -19C here the other year) because of not having a vote. French ex-pats in UK have their own representative in the French Assembly.

We can vote only in local and European elections, not in national ones Is it the same in UK?

Anyway we're on our way home in time for the next election.

[boxtops]

I'd say no, unless they pay tax in the UK - not just because they were born here. My OH was born in Scotland but wasn't eligible to vote in their referendum.

[Old_Geezer]

Close family are able to vote for themselves.

The "no taxation ..." quote sounds good initially, but what if commercial concerns started to claim the same thing :-) Or maybe folk you pay a little tax in a lot of places get a full vote in each ?

My gut feeling still leans towards having a say in one place only, although there should be rules about what options you have.

[Old_Geezer]

folk WHO pay
like I typed >>>>>:-(

[jourdain2]

OG, I only mentioned close family to express that we still have close links and care a lot about UK and what goes on there (after all, we paid in all our lives). Of course they can vote for themselves - and widely divergent views they hold :).

Take your point about companies, but the current system doesn't seem fair.

[ichkeria]

Whatever the other arguments for and against, the amount of tax one has paid in previous years should most definitely NOT have anything to do with it :-)