Jason Moore07/10/2016 00:00
TW
2

Well, better late than never! At last the British government is going to give British citizens living abroad the vote for life and revoke the 15-year rule. This is fantastic news and will mean that soon thousands of British voters, whose voice has been unheard for many years, will be able to have their say on voting day. The government is living up to its election pledge which was made about two years ago. But unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of British citizens abroad were unable to vote in the referendum on European Union membership.

If we had all been able to vote, then the outcome may have been very different. But we were snubbed. Attempts were made to change the law so that all foreign residents would be able to vote, but they failed. At least we now have the vote, because it is highly unlikely that we will be able to vote in Spanish local elections now that Britain is on the verge of leaving the EU.

The move by the British government will not be popular in Britain. Many believe that British citizens who live outside the UK should not be able to have a say in British elections. But it must be remembered that all decisions taken by the British government affects British citizens abroad. So far the European Union referendum has hit British citizens abroad hard, with their incomes falling by almost 10 per cent thanks to the drop in the value of the pound sterling against the euro.