Great piece and fully agree. I found it astounding that when I arrived I the UK in 1996 that I, as a Jamaican, could only live in the UK because my spouse was an EU national but I could vote in ALL elections in the UK, a right that she did not have. In addition these Commonwealth voting rules also allow Commonwealth citizens to STAND in any and all elections in the UK. This also needs to be dealt with.
Paul I was born in Australia and came to the UK when my then husband got a work promotion. I was utterly flabergasted to find I could vote. On a visa as a work permit dependent. No child benefit or guaranteed access to a state school for my son, yet I could decide your country's government? I could help decide whether the UK stayed in the EU or not. All quite legally. I vote because I believe in democracy, and anyway after living in a country where voting is compulsory it feels odd not to! But for 18 years it just felt wrong! I was a foreigner! A close relative, yes, but not actually British. And there was little incentive to become British because the only thing it would get me was benefits. Maybe. I'm still entitled to the OAP when I'm old enough. After I got ILR, Medicare in Canberra stopped subsidising my NHS bills. I eventually felt guilty and became British, but it took 18 years.
As an immigrant I should have had none of that. My new English husband certainly wouldn't get any of that in Australia. He definitely couldn't vote. He couldn't even buy a house.
It made sense when there were perhaps only 10s of thousands of Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK and intended to live here for an extended period of time (or at least wasn't utterly perverse), but now it makes no sense at all.
And Paul, don't worry about needing to make a choice about whether you should vote in an election in Pakistan, I can tell you from personal experience, you can't. 🙂
Yeah, I hate it when people vote the" wrong " way as well .
*not excusing any electoral fraud / crime .
But it does remind me of post 16 brexit referendum, all the remianers made excuse after excuse on why the vote wasnt valid and that we should vote again ( they didnt understand, they were racist , Russian propaganda etc ) when the bottom line was , they didnt like the way the electorate voted .
Also , just a comment on family voting , I know its not exactly what is meant, but growing up families mostly voted the same way ( all voted labour/ tory etc ) and if you dared to vote for the other lot ( and admit it ) , you may be "viewd differently " at the dinner table .
People who are not indigenous to these islands should not have the vote. By allowing even those from our former colonies are already voting to change the government so that foreigners are the majority. We will no longer be England …
Even our king is in favour of other cultures as is our limp wristed pm.
We lived in Mexico for a number of years and had no access to benefits, health other than ER and had no voting rights. Nor did we expect to get any. I was shocked to discover recently that Commonwealth and some EU migrants (including Irish) get full voting rights. It’s absurd and even worse it gets abused.
Spot on Paul! Unfortunately we are unlikely to see the Government tackling this issue. It's not in their electoral interest and the party contains many who wish to dismantle the nation state in favour of a new global order.
I completely agree Paul. The postal voting system also needs scrutiny to make it fit for purpose. I also believe, and no doubt I will take some flack for this, that voting should be mandatory. Only by doing that will we get a truly representative result, even if those who don’t like any of the candidates spoil their ballot papers. Yesterday there was a local by-election. The turnout was 24.5%. 2000 votes were cast, which means that 6000 residents did not use their mandate. The winner polled 1000 votes, a convincing 50% of the votes cast. But how convincing is it when it represents 1 in 8 people in the ward?
I was born in Australia where voting is compulsory. If you don't vote you pay a small fine. Refuse to pay the fine and you go to jail, and get a criminal record, with all that entails. When you know you have to vote you pay more attention to politics!
My best friend was born in Brazil. She is now British so she didn't vote in the last Brazillian election which means she has now lost the ability to deal with the Brazillian government. She can't renew her Brazillian passport for example. Not voting means no access to government systems. Full stop.
Given that everything else in our country is being "decolonised" 🤮 surely this "legacy of Empire" should go the same way. Once again our so-called nation gives excessive rights to foreigners. And not just any foreigner, but mainly foreigners from countries who are culturally a few hundred years behind us! We are such a joke. Come on Paul, just come out on the side of Reform. The most pressing matter for us to fix is the cultural, woke, DEI, immigration madness. Only Reform stands a chance of getting our country back on track and ripping out our suicidal tendencies. You can go back to Labour once the ground work has been done.
Great piece and fully agree. I found it astounding that when I arrived I the UK in 1996 that I, as a Jamaican, could only live in the UK because my spouse was an EU national but I could vote in ALL elections in the UK, a right that she did not have. In addition these Commonwealth voting rules also allow Commonwealth citizens to STAND in any and all elections in the UK. This also needs to be dealt with.
All of this horror and madness is on the Left's ledger. And a weak Right.
Paul I was born in Australia and came to the UK when my then husband got a work promotion. I was utterly flabergasted to find I could vote. On a visa as a work permit dependent. No child benefit or guaranteed access to a state school for my son, yet I could decide your country's government? I could help decide whether the UK stayed in the EU or not. All quite legally. I vote because I believe in democracy, and anyway after living in a country where voting is compulsory it feels odd not to! But for 18 years it just felt wrong! I was a foreigner! A close relative, yes, but not actually British. And there was little incentive to become British because the only thing it would get me was benefits. Maybe. I'm still entitled to the OAP when I'm old enough. After I got ILR, Medicare in Canberra stopped subsidising my NHS bills. I eventually felt guilty and became British, but it took 18 years.
As an immigrant I should have had none of that. My new English husband certainly wouldn't get any of that in Australia. He definitely couldn't vote. He couldn't even buy a house.
It made sense when there were perhaps only 10s of thousands of Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK and intended to live here for an extended period of time (or at least wasn't utterly perverse), but now it makes no sense at all.
And Paul, don't worry about needing to make a choice about whether you should vote in an election in Pakistan, I can tell you from personal experience, you can't. 🙂
Great piece Paul. I wholeheartedly agree non-British citizens should not be allowed to vote no exceptions.
That coupled with the clan block vote for thousands of Mirpur, Pakistanis and family voting should all be barred.
It's fraud and a disgrace.
Good article Paul and I must say I was dumbfounded to learn about the voting rights. Funny old life!
Hi Paul 👋
Yeah, I hate it when people vote the" wrong " way as well .
*not excusing any electoral fraud / crime .
But it does remind me of post 16 brexit referendum, all the remianers made excuse after excuse on why the vote wasnt valid and that we should vote again ( they didnt understand, they were racist , Russian propaganda etc ) when the bottom line was , they didnt like the way the electorate voted .
Also , just a comment on family voting , I know its not exactly what is meant, but growing up families mostly voted the same way ( all voted labour/ tory etc ) and if you dared to vote for the other lot ( and admit it ) , you may be "viewd differently " at the dinner table .
Have a lovely week Paul and other readers 😊
People who are not indigenous to these islands should not have the vote. By allowing even those from our former colonies are already voting to change the government so that foreigners are the majority. We will no longer be England …
Even our king is in favour of other cultures as is our limp wristed pm.
We lived in Mexico for a number of years and had no access to benefits, health other than ER and had no voting rights. Nor did we expect to get any. I was shocked to discover recently that Commonwealth and some EU migrants (including Irish) get full voting rights. It’s absurd and even worse it gets abused.
I look forward to my votes in Pakistan making a difference.
Spot on Paul! Unfortunately we are unlikely to see the Government tackling this issue. It's not in their electoral interest and the party contains many who wish to dismantle the nation state in favour of a new global order.
I completely agree Paul. The postal voting system also needs scrutiny to make it fit for purpose. I also believe, and no doubt I will take some flack for this, that voting should be mandatory. Only by doing that will we get a truly representative result, even if those who don’t like any of the candidates spoil their ballot papers. Yesterday there was a local by-election. The turnout was 24.5%. 2000 votes were cast, which means that 6000 residents did not use their mandate. The winner polled 1000 votes, a convincing 50% of the votes cast. But how convincing is it when it represents 1 in 8 people in the ward?
I was born in Australia where voting is compulsory. If you don't vote you pay a small fine. Refuse to pay the fine and you go to jail, and get a criminal record, with all that entails. When you know you have to vote you pay more attention to politics!
My best friend was born in Brazil. She is now British so she didn't vote in the last Brazillian election which means she has now lost the ability to deal with the Brazillian government. She can't renew her Brazillian passport for example. Not voting means no access to government systems. Full stop.
Given that everything else in our country is being "decolonised" 🤮 surely this "legacy of Empire" should go the same way. Once again our so-called nation gives excessive rights to foreigners. And not just any foreigner, but mainly foreigners from countries who are culturally a few hundred years behind us! We are such a joke. Come on Paul, just come out on the side of Reform. The most pressing matter for us to fix is the cultural, woke, DEI, immigration madness. Only Reform stands a chance of getting our country back on track and ripping out our suicidal tendencies. You can go back to Labour once the ground work has been done.
Ha. Nice try, Tracy! :)
Agreed Paul - urgent change required. If the change related to His Majesty’s dominions, can’t he make a royal proclamation in interests of democracy?