The House of Lords debate on Democracy for Expatriates.
January 14th
2013.
It was not a debate, but it was an exhibition of
intellectual dishonesty, prejudice and ignorance.
An amendment to the Electoral
Registration and Administration Bill which would have removed the 15 year limit
on the ‘right’ to Representation for expatriate British Citizens was introduced by Lord Lexden. This presentation was presented with
intellectual rigour,
What followed was not a debate
but observations by various ‘Peers’. Lord
Gardiner, the Government spokesman and Government Whip, ended the exchange and
requested Lord Lexden to withdraw his
amendment. Which he did!
Here follows some commentary on
the speeches by some of the ‘peers’. (The Hansard report has highlighted sentences where reference can be made.)
Lord
Lipsey…
One cannot pass over his comments
about some expatriates seeking ‘cheap gin and tonics’ Such a remark demonstrates prejudice, and not
intellectual honesty. Such remarks are used to conjure images in
the mind of any listener against the expatriate.
His next point about those
seeking redress for their frozen pensions
is saying ‘we cannot have people
being represented, because they may not agree with us’. Lord Debden countered that attitude later on.
(see page 9 of the Hansard Report)
Lord Lipsey then raised the views
of Professor Blackburn –uttered in 1998 when the World was a very different
place!
I wrote a riposte to
Blackburn’s views in
2007 – view here…
It was published
in ‘French News’ at the time.
It
emphasises the non-democratic status of the expatriate Briton in Europe.
That very same issue is in sharp focus today
.
If Britain
pulls out of the Union
through a vote based solely on the views of Britons resident in the UK with
no cognisance of the effect on Britons in continental Europe, it
will be a disaster. It will be a denial of
any democratic honesty for the
British nation.
Lastly Lord Lipsey says ‘you
cannot have representation without taxation’ .
Does not that also mean the reverse would be true in his view? Thousands of expatriates pay tax to the
British Government, income tax, and tax on investments, as well as property
taxes.
Lord
Tyler,
Again note the introduction of
the phrase ‘expats in the Costa del Sol'.
Another comment introduced solely to give an antipathetic image in the minds of
the listener. It is a rhetorical trick.
Lord Tyler continues with comments on Council Tax, VAT etc. It is all
nonsense. Ludicrous. It bears no
scrutiny for it has no basis in reality. No expatriate vote would affect such
local matters.
Lord Anderson and also Lord
Lipsey make a point that few expatriates who could register to vote, actually
do so. The numbers who could in fact do
so is not at all clear. Remember that after 15 years one has no chance. That cut-off point is of itself a deterrent! I will not re-register this May because my
own 15 year limit ends in August. There
will be no election in which I could vote before that date. Many others will not register for similar
reasons. Lords Lipsey and co have a
point but do they bother to ask why this number is so small?
If as they say
few expatriates want to vote why are they so afraid of granting the
vote! Are they afraid that giving a
life-time vote will of itself so increase the desire that they lose power? It really is nonsensical.
Baroness
Hayter,
She displays very little
understanding of the life of large numbers of expatriates.
A large number will return to the
UK at some
time. They all want to return to a Britain
which is properly run. The younger
families after 15 or twenty years or more will return, needing good schools and
hospitals, and all the other organisations of society.
Many send their children to
schools in Britain.
They nearly all have relatives in Britain
for whom they care. The retired folk on the continent are very likely to return
in their final years. They also have
younger relatives working in Britain. Baroness Hayter is out of touch.
Her second argument is so bizarre
it hardly bears repetition.
It is that
expatriates given the vote may well give funds to political parties!
Therefore we cannot possibly give them the
vote.
This is much the same argument put
forward by Lord Lipsey – that is ‘We cannot possibly give the vote to those who
might disagree with us!’
In this case
‘They might give funds to other parties!’
UPDATE (Jan 30th 2013) Once again in the Lords (Report Stage) Lord Lexden introduced an amendment and again withdrew it with the agreement to chair an all-party committee on the issue. That is the situation at the end of January 2013.
It is important to influence the Politicians and
support those who have the interest of the Briton Abroad at
heart. Truly - Democracy is at stake here.
To locate their email addresses so that you
can write to them look
at…….
http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/lords/
