160429 HMA Simon Manley with Register to Vote banner
Simon Manley in Malaga

BRITISH Ambassador Simon Manley was in Malaga this morning urging expats to register to vote for the upcoming EU referendum on June 23.

Following yesterday’s High Court refusal to give a vote to long-term expats (out of the UK for more than 15 years), Manley stressed that every vote counts.

The deadline for expats to register for a postal vote is May 16, while the official registration deadline for UK residents is June 7, click here to do so.

Photo by The Resident
Photo by The Resident

More than 1,000 expats per day in Spain are visiting the ‘Register to Vote’ webpage which Manley described as ‘very encouraging’.

But there are still tens of thousands yet to register.

“Whatever you think of the issue, this is the most important issue Britain has faced in generations,” Manley told the Olive Press.

“This is going to determine the nature of our economy, our security and our society for generations to come.

He continued: “There’s no second vote. You’ll have one vote, one chance to exercise your right to vote and one chance to show what you think of this issue.”

Photo by The Resident
Photo by The Resident

The former Europe director of the Foreign Office was fervent in his belief that regardless of opinion, it is essential that anyone with the right to vote must exercise it.

“The truth is that we don’t know what the consequences would be should the British public choose to leave the EU, we can give people here absolutely no assurance about what will happen,” Manley added.

“And it would be foolhardy for us to do so, but the British people must be aware their vote will be respected.”

IMG_5521
Photo by The Resident

Voters will need their National Insurance number, passport details and, ideally, the postcode of their last residence in the UK to register.

The three voting options available are: a postal ballot (deadline May 16 for expats to guarantee arrival), by proxy or to vote in person if in the UK.

Registration can be done online with a possible step to be completed by post.

You can register here.

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6 COMMENTS

  1. Scare mongering tactics by Cameron’s lot is all they have to offer. Nothing will change for ex-pats anywhere on the planet. Ex-pats live all over the world and not just Spain. That will continue. Britain has, and always will be one of Spain’s best customers, and that too will continue. The “EU” is not Europe. It’s an undemocratic neo liberal authoritarian cooperate. The EU has never ever been Audited. The politicians want to believe we are all too stupid to understand anything. It is disrespectful to working class people and e-pats to resort to methods like these. If Britain leaves the EU, we will simply gain back lost sovereignty and be free to trade with the whole world. Many countries outside the EU have free Visa free travel. That will continue, because Europeans want to also travel to the UK.

    • This rant completely ignores the point of the article. It simply exhorts people to vote and gives information of how to do so. There’s no scaremongering here, (unless you’re scared at the thought of voting) You ought to because you know exactly what will happen after your desired Brexit occurs.
      Nirvana.

  2. Good post Phil.

    Due to the referendum sterling dropped significantly against the euro so I wonder how expats trying to sell their Spanish properties would vote after all they get more £s if they sold and returned to Blighty (after all estate agents in Spain keep pumping out their rhetoric on how good the market is, not) must be a good time to sell lol. Also, expat pensioners who don’t want to return must be getting hit by the exchange rate!

    So some benefit while others lose either way of voting!

    • Good time to sell = bad time to buy. Result? stalemate. Expat pensioner house owners here who suffer financially as a result of a Brexit will just have to suck it up. They are going nowhere.
      Bit puzzled as to who “wins” with this formula.

  3. Aunt Sally,
    it just goes to show you hav’nt got a clue how the corrupt world of international finance works. Do you even begin to understand what the expressions ‘going short’ or ‘going long’ mean. The parasites in London/New York/Paris/Frankfurt/Singapore/Tokyo are dictating currency values. These values have no basis in reality, if they did then the US$ would be worthless, The Euro not mush more and the £ somewhere between the two.

    Property is a good investment ONLY if the country it is in is solvent or ‘perceived’ to be solvent. When it is’nt, you don’t have an asset, you have an unmoveable liability – got it.

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