The Committee stage debate in the House of Lords begins on October 28th. Harry Shindler writes urging every British Citizen to lobby MPs and members of the House of Lords.
Harry makes a last minute appeal for he says...
“A victory for the ‘out’ vote would be most serious for all Expatriate British Citizens living in the EU, for them and their families. All would be affected. This really is about our future. All my appeals to the British Government to introduce the Votes-for-Life Bill so that it can have effect before the Referendum have failed. My appeal is that all the disenfranchised British Citizens in the EU should have a vote in the Referendum.
I have appealed to the European Commission to urgently intervene on the behalf of the British Citizens.”
A copy of Harry's letter to the EU Commissioner Avramopoulos is attached HERE. Harry is aggrieved that this matter is not resolved by the British politicians.
The current state of the debate in the LORDS on The Referendum Bill is as follows.
On the 28th October an amendment to the Bill [To extend the vote in the Referendum to all British Citizens - at least those residing in the EU] will probably be put forward by a group of cross-bench members. It could however be launched by one or more Liberal Democrat members.
Quite likely a fair number of Labour members will support this amendment. It will pass if a reasonable number of Conservatives also support the amendment. But how many from any party will abstain ?
If the amendment is passed it then has to be re-considered in the Commons.
It is difficult to ascertain the Government view. It seems that they wish to see clear water between the Votes-for-Life Bill which they have yet to introduce, from the Referendum Bill. WHY? We do not know! One gets the impression that they want the Referendum Bill cleared out of the way before introducing the Votes Bill.
This is what is distressing Harry, for Harry sees the danger in that it might cause the result of the Referendum to be ‘out’ simply because a large number of those most affected will not be allowed to vote!
It is patently obvious that it is undemocratic for those most affected to be denied the vote.
The political minefield that is exposed, is that the Euro-sceptic politicians will not want the British Citizens in the EU to have the vote and that could endanger the progress of any such amendment as above.
Another spanner in the works is that it is rumoured that the notion has been introduced in cabinet office discussions that the Votes-for-Life Bill should include the concept of ‘overseas constituencies’. That also would create an arena for debate in either chamber of parliament. The Government insists that the Votes for Life Bill is necessary to achieve democracy.
The Government is also in favour of staying in Europe. Some of us are confused as to why we cannot vote in the Referendum. What is it that we are not told?
To write to a member of the House of Lords – or to an MP – find the address on the following link. Both lots of addresses are accessible.
http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/lords/
“Support this campaign – it’s Your Campaign”. To have a voice in your Future - Write! Will you?
Brian Cave, le Fourquet, Gourdon, 46300, France
W: http://pensionersdebout.blogspot.com | Votes for Britons http://votes-for-expat-brits.com
