AIBU to think it was unfair that I didn't get a vote (Brexit)

[Nicolamarlow1]

At the time of the referendum my DH and I had lived in France for more than 15 years and therefore we couldn't vote in the referendum (or in any other UK elections come to that). We are now back in the UK. Just because we lived there at the time didn't mean we were there forever. While we were in France we were still British citizens and there must be thousands of expats like us who were denied a vote on Brexit.

Nicolamarlow1

Please read my original post! I do live in the UK now, and I paid UK taxes all my working life

You chose not to live in the UK at the time of the referendum. Why would you expect to have a say in UK affairs?

I was also out of the country, on business, during the 3 months before and 3 months after the referendum. Why should I have had a say in what happens with the UK? I am British born and bred. I have also contributed a vast amount of tax to the UK purse but when I am living sometimes in UK and sometimes in Europe when the UK, nor I, have any idea when, or if, I will return to the UK, why should I have a vote on what happens to the people of the UK?

Not my business.

It seems you have now returned to the UK. Well, the vote has been and gone. You weren't available, because you weren't living in the country. Not the government's fault.

Before we knew what Brexit entailed, even as a remainder, i’d have said YABabitU but knowing what we know now about the clusterfuck it was about to reveal YANBU. A relative works in Germany but occasionally has to travel to other places. There’s a visa situation being discussed but the timing issues means there’d be no guarantees he’d be able to return to his base & home from business trips if he left the country in the transitional (not exactly sure what the actual term is) period between a temporary and more permanent visa. I fully expected a government to be able to sort these kinds of things out in three years but it seems they say scratching their arses in that time.

YANBU. You are currently living in France as a EU citizen. Britain leaving the EU removes your EU citizenship and your rights in France. You should have been able to vote on that decision.

Pennyarcade, I find it hard to understand why you would no longer be interested in UK affairs just because you were out of the country for 6 months.

@chinam - sorry! I missed that

I don’t think the usual rules should have applied to this referendum though given its nature. It’s madness to me that great swathes of people most affected by brexit weren’t allowed a vote when they either had an interest through citizenship or financial contribution.

What criteria would you use for determining who is allowed to vote OP?

Should there be a time limit or should anyone with UK citizenship have been allowed to vote?

What about citizens of other EU countries, should they be allowed to vote as it affects their right to free movement?

Probably less unfair than allowing non-UK citizens who have lived here for many years a vote. I also think that people born in Scotland but not living there should have had a vote in the independence referendum.

My sister lives in Australia, I’m positive she told me she’d had a vote.

Yanbu

I think any British citizen abroad should have been able to vote and any EU citizen living in Britain

In the EU citizen case probably would have made sense for there to be a qualifying period of residence

Nicolamarlow1

Pennyarcade, I find it hard to understand why you would no longer be interested in UK affairs just because you were out of the country for 6 months

That's the UK rules. I'm regularly out of the country. Why have you suddenly decided you want say in the UK when you haven't lived here for 15 years??

YABU. You didn’t live here or pay tax here, why should you get a say?

I dont pay tax, so I shouldn't get a say

In anything?

Should there be a time limit or should anyone with UK citizenship have been allowed to vote?

Anyone with a British passport who applied - yes.

What about citizens of other EU countries, should they be allowed to vote as it affects their right to free movement?

If they have a residential address and pay council tax - again yes.

@PinkiOcelot It's quite possible that she did. It's the OP's lengthy absence that barred her from voting.

www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/eu-referendum/about

Tomtontom, I think there should not be a time limit on voting for British citizens, and I think that should apply to all British citizens living in other countries. If I had still been in France then Brexit might have affected my healthcare. It still might affect healthcare for expats currently living in EU countries and therefore they should have been entitled to a vote.

I dont understand why commonwealth citizens who are living here temporarily got a vote but EU citizens who lived here and made a life here didnt.

And personally I think everyone whose life is going to be affected should have got a vote.

Its quite funny the mental hoops being jumped through, the EU agreed with the ruling, it was taking to court on a human rights basis, if you are remain then you surely accept their decision, especially in the contect of brexit.

just what mental hoops?

People are allowed to disagree with all sorts of things

I voted remain, doesnt mean that the EU are right everytime

Same as you can vote tory and disagree with their education policy for example

@Cornettoninja Ignoring the fact that I asked the OP, I asked about citizens of other EU countries, not just those resident in the UK. They will have an address but they won't be paying council tax. Their right to free movement is affected by Brexit, should they not have a vote?

I'm not sure you realise how many people are eligible for a British passport. It doesn't always relate to residency, or even having stepped foot in the UK!

What Rufus said.

OP you weren't in the UK when universal credit was introduced, do you want a say on that by retrospectively voting for an MP who might have opposed its introduction? Or a say on the last fifteen budgets that you have missed, particularly if you are paying taxes now, surely those past discussions affected you?

You didn't fit the referendum criteria at the time the referendum was held. Nor did anybody who was 15 at the time but is now 18. Not did xyz other categories of people. But that's how politics works, you cannot turn back the clock to change past decisions.

My brother and sister in law, who emigrated to NZ in 2015, both had a vote. Pissed me right off I have to say.

2014 even

And personally I think everyone whose life is going to be affected should have got a vote.

That's all EU citizens then.

I disagree with the OP because there has to be a cut off somewhere. If someone is away from the UK for more than 15 years then they should have equal rights to all EU citizens, and if you give one set a vote then you give them to all.

Does raise the question, should all EU citizens have been given the vote? They might have wanted to work and live in the UK in the future too. And we are all part of the Union.

If I had still been in France then Brexit might have affected my healthcare. It still might affect healthcare for expats currently living in EU countries

There's a shame... Penny and bun springs to mind. Either you live in the UK, pay into the pot and are entitled to British NHS care or you choose to live away from the UK. You shouldn't have it both ways.
The same with any UK decisions. If you choose to not live within the UK why should you have a say in UK decisions?

I see no reason for the 15 year rule. Up to 15 years abroad, I could vote in any UK elections. After 15 years I didn't get any say. That is what I think is unfair, especially, as I said, many people live abroad and then return to the UK. Most of them also have families in the UK so should be able to vote on issues that affect them.