Fresh calls for UK expats to get voting rights ‘in perpetuity’

Palma.—On Wednesday, as the Bulletin reported on the front page yesterday, British and Irish expats in Spain who are fighting to hold on to the right to vote in their home countries were finally handed a boost by the European Commission.
Expats living in other European countries should be given the right to vote in general elections – even if they’ve been abroad for years .
Viviane Reding, the EU’s justice commissioner, said citizens of the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Cyprus and Malta were effectively being “punished” and rendered “second-class citizens” for moving to other European countries – something they have the right to do under EU treaties.