Joe Duggan (Reporter)
A MEMBER of the House of Lords is demanding constituencies for expats living in Spain.
Peer Paul Tyler, who served as a Lib Dem MP until 2005, wants all disenfranchised Britons living in the EU to have their own MPs.
In a similar arrangement that exists for French and Italian expats, Tyler believes that it is fairer than expats having a vote in their UK constituencies.
In a letter sent to expat rights campaigner Brian Cave, Tyler wrote: “Expatriate constituencies is the only rational solution.
“Put yourself in the shoes of the MP; faced with the problems, concerns and special interests of 75,000 constituents how many will give appropriate attention to a few dozen voters living hundreds of miles away?”
The move comes as it was revealed former UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s promise to extend voting rights to expats has been blocked.
The move is allegedly seen as too complicated with few UK constituencies having records going back more than 15 years.
The UK boundary commission – which looks at electoral constituencies – is due to meet in early 2018 to look at all the possible options.
France-based campaigner Brian Cave urged expats across Europe to put as much pressure on the UK authorities as possible.
He told the Olive Press: “Britons abroad should not be ignored.”
We have been ignored long enough and to use the excuse it was too complicated to allow expats to vote is a poor reason to deny the right to vote. Being outside the UK for more than fifteen years and not being allowed to vote is not the same as the privilege to vote in the EU referendum and every UK passport holder should have been given that right.
Many people living in the EU pay tax to the UK Government and many of us voted against joining the Free Trade vote in 1976, and I was one of them who envisaged that the EU would develope into what it has become. We should have constituencies in Spain and our voices must be heard.