That I'll never be able to vote or belong anywhere again?

[daretodenim]

I'm Scottish and live in an EU country where you have to be a national to vote. So I can't vote here. If I were to become a national, I'd have to renounce my UK citizenship. I'm British, I don't want to do that.

As I've been out of the UK for 15 years, I am not eligible to vote in the UK.

As I'm not living in Scotland I'm not eligible to vote in any Indy Ref.

I've been holding out hope that IF Scotland became independent I'd get a Scottish passport and somehow made a link that I'd get a vote. However, I realised today that every single time an indy ref is discussed by Sturgeon and she refers to Scottish voters, she refers to "the people of Scotland". She does not refer to "Scots".

So basically, I'm not considered a person of Scotland, as that's those who live there.

I'm never going to get to vote again, am I? In the country I'm living in (and will have to for complex reasons for the foreseeable future), I'm considered British/Scottish. They don't see me as one of them, because I come from abroad. Fair enough. Yet, neither Britain nor Scotland see me as one of them either, because I'm living abroad.

So if I want to be part of a democracy, I have to renounce my identity. I can't quite believe this can be happening.

How is it unfair when government policies affect us just as much? I don’t see what’s so difficult to understand (and I’m getting fairly fed up of repeating this🙄)

How is it unfair when government policies affect us just as much? I don’t see what’s so difficult to understand (and I’m getting fairly fed up of repeating this

Because Government policies don't affect you just as much as they affect people who LIVE in the UK - especially those who plan to live here for the rest of their lives.

Somehow you can't understand that.

I am an expat and I think the 15 year rule is about right ( although 10 might be better)- for context I now live in a country where right to citizenship depends on ethnicity and I’m not eligible - also we don’t have meaningful elections. I can vote in local ( garbage collection and street light) elections as I qualify for permanent residency. I haven’t voted in a uk election since I left 10 years ago although I intend to when we return.

I’ve got fairly significant interests in the uk so election outcomes definitely effect me but I feel that if you don’t have to live with it day to day and on a holistic basis, You shouldn’t get a vote. I’m too removed from day to day life and therefore I’d be more inclined to vote based on fairly narrow criteria which focus on self interest which isn’t in the national interest. As an example. expats are likely to vote for low tax regimes as they do have the benefits but not the consequences ( less funding to public services)

Well you may feel like that but I certainly don’t. We see the effects of NHS cuts in the treatment my MIL gets, and transport when my husband is working there, as well as the experiences of my other close relatives and friends

Don’t assume all expats are selfish any more than U.K. residents, some of whom will vote for selfish reasons too!

If something affects us, it affects us, it doesn’t affect us less because we’re not living in the U.K. full time 🙄

We see the effects of NHS cuts in the treatment my MIL gets, and transport when my husband is working there, as well as the experiences of my other close relatives and friends

But that doesn't affect you personally.

Your MIL has a vote. I hope she uses it.

I could say exactly the same about people in the USA, France, Nepal etc - but I don't have a vote in that country. Because I don't live there.

Don’t assume all expats are selfish any more than U.K. residents, some of whom will vote for selfish reasons too!

But most people do vote in their own interests and why do you think Boris wants to remove the term limit? Ironically, by getting your own vote you might be less likely to get the outcome you want.

Re your husband’s travel woes, the traffic in Mumbai drives me nuts once a month when I go there for work but it doesn’t mean I should get to vote in an Indian election.

FWIW, in an increasingly globalised world, an increasing number of people will have ties to more than one country. It means that more people will feel disenfranchised in part of their ‘world’. My personal opinion is that long term residence is a greater ‘stake’ than citizenship given a four year electoral term.

I think what would be fairest is you can vote if you’ve legally lived in the uk more than 5 years ( continually) and you can’t if you’re British but you’ve lived outside the uk (continually) for more than 10.

Yet again, for the hard of reading, I’m talking about British citizens, not visitors to whatever random country. We may go back in the future, being able to vote now could affect what kind of Britain we return to, we still have an interest in how the country is run

And my comment about my MIL was in answer to people telling me I’m too remote and don’t know what’s going on. Patronising rubbish

And my comment about my MIL was in answer to people telling me I’m too remote and don’t know what’s going on. Patronising rubbish

Your MIL has a vote.

We may go back in the future, being able to vote now could affect what kind of Britain we return to, we still have an interest in how the country is run

Well come back then, live here, use the NHS, use the infrastructure, use our public services, use the local shops, see the job situation and then use your vote to make a difference.

We may go back in the future, being able to vote now could affect what kind of Britain we return to, we still have an interest in how the country is run

As I said further up, after 15 years you probably know whether you want to or not.

I'd have preferred it if people living in Australia, New Zealand and Canada who have no intention of returning to the UK had not voted for Brexit.

Yes she does but if we also had a vote we can try and change things too

Actually, with the attitudes on this thread we’re more likely to stay where we are, much better all round

Enjoy your little englander paradise, and quickly pull up the drawbridge

I’ve got better things to do than argue the toss with people who don’t listen

Who knows when/if they’ll go back. Things change, life happens. No one can say they definitely will or definitely won’t but stripping us of our vote and making us feel extremely unwelcome in our own home country is extremely disappointing to see. I thought the British were better than that, obviously not

Yes she does but if we also had a vote we can try and change things too

I have friends in over countries. Should I be allowed to vote in that country because of the issues that are over there? I may go and live in that country in the future.

but stripping us of our vote and making us feel extremely unwelcome in our own home country is extremely disappointing to see

At the moment, people who have lived abroad for 15 years or less are allowed to vote in the UK. Hardly being stripped of a vote, is it?

If you returned, maybe you would feel welcome in the UK. Or not. I suppose it depends where you live and who you mix with.

Why do you keep going on about other countries you’re not a citizen of?

Jeez

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

you cannot always leave a country you're living in if you're divorced and your ex doesn't allow it. You can be done for abduction of the children and lose all custody.

This is surely to stop the situation where a couple breaks up and one parent decides to relocate the children to the other side of the world where the other parent won't likely be able to maintain regular contact.

Why do you keep going on about other countries you’re not a citizen of

Because once again, you've left a country. Not lived there as a citizen of that country for 15 years. Probably won't come back to that country - as it's full of Little Englanders apparently.

And you still expect a vote in the way its run because you were born there?

Yes

You don’t know whether I’ll come back, as I’ve said many, many times. I am a British citizen still with many British connections and should be allowed to vote on the future of my birth country. Not a difficult concept

But as I said earlier, I’ve had enough of going round in circles and having to repeat myself. Hopefully Boris will stick to his word, for once, and re-instate our vote

But as I said earlier, I’ve had enough of going round in circles and having to repeat myself. Hopefully Boris will stick to his word, for once, and re-instate our vote

Don't worry. I said the same thing. And I'm still here

Boris isn't known for sticking to his word though.