Unite the Kingdom - LWS/WRN

[Tooting33]

I am just wondering why Tommy Robinson is so appealing to a number of sex-realist women. Kellie Jay Keen spoke at the event. My local LWS group are fully supportive, as are the leaders of my local WRN groups.
Is anyone else finding it is harder to network with gender critical/sex realist women without them also being Reform/Restore/Tommy Robinson supporters?

Don't rely on my legal ken, but I believe Commonwealth voting comes from laws introduced under the Attlee government (voting rights for Irish citizens in the UK is a slightly different thing)

But in that 1940s context, Commonwealth immigration was just starting and it was mostly a reciprocal arrangement with the Dominions, i.e. you emigrated to Canada or Australia and, because you were a subject of the Crown, you didn't have to go through a process of naturalisation.

So the arrangement has been kept for decades though the context has changed enormously. I don't know if other Commonwealth countries still have it. I suspect not.

They have to have a permanent home address. Presumably that wouldn’t include holidaymakers.

I wonder if Reform will also be kicking off about British voters who live permanently overseas.

'According to the Electoral Commission, any citizen of any Commonwealth country has the right to vote in our local and general elections so long as they are in the UK and have: ‘Any type of permission to enter or stay…whether indefinite, time limited or conditional’.'

This is from the Spec article I linked upthread. No mention of a home address. Maybe that is elsewhere.

I imagine something along the lines of having a wide public airing about what constitute 'British civil values', and then having a wider discussion of how we go about enabling and maintaining them; plus how we act to reject that which doesn't align with or conform to these values, and in some cases outright offends them.

At present we don't seme to have a clear picture of what these values are, and so in place of that we have assumed a liberal 'whatever floats your boat' type of approach, which somehow manages to reduce debates about the niqab/sharia law etc into a 'freedom of choice' issue - which to my mind comes from some sort of americanised 'pick and mix'attitude which has been shaped by the values of individualistic consumerism. ( and cultural relativism)

I don't think it is purely a muslim issue......there are also some independentl;y run Jewish schools ( for boys), for example, which are operating in an unacceptable way: using corporal punishment, 'teaching' in unsafe buildings, no English or Maths taught etc, and in more recent post covid times some independently run schools which are teaching children 'survivalist' tactics including how to fire a rifle etc

https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/running-electoral-registration-wales/eligibility-register-vote/what-are-nationality-requirements-register-vote/can-a-commonwealth-citizen-register-vote

'A person is a qualifying Commonwealth citizen if they do not require permission to enter or stay in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man or they do require permission to enter or stay in the UK but have been granted such permission, or are treated as having been granted such permission.
Any type of permission to enter or stay is acceptable, whether indefinite, time limited or conditional.'

GC people are winning because logic, science, and vast swathes of the population are in agreement with a clear consistent message. Human beings can't change sex.
The Unite the Kingdom people are trying to argue a variety of different values and political approach over others. It's unclear, and encompasses a broad church from worried about immigration to hard line white supremacist, anti semitics who want nothing less that an all white christian UK.
If the 'stubborn few' from UTK have a clear consistent message that will prevail, what exactly is it?

It’s currently part of the Representation of the People Act. Most recently highlighted when there were questions about where Zack Polanski had registered to vote, as it had to be his primary residence. There’s stuff on the Electoral Commission site about challenging residency.

more here.

Yes. I also think there should be no religious exemptions for Sikhs to carry knives in public given the recent murder.

Ditto religious exemptions from animal cruelty laws - why should we condone animal cruelty purely on religious grounds? It makes no sense.

There are a number of issues going on at once.

We dont know who is in the country. We cannot relying on 2021 census figures because there has been an explosion of immigration since 2021, and lots of minority groups do not complete the census anyway.

We have no idea who is in the country, there are estimates that between 1 and 2 million people are illegally in London alone.

So we are talking at cross purposes - some are seeing immigration changing their neighbourhoods and others arguing that official stats say otherwise.

As citizens we expect that people who can vote and be elected are invested in the country. Is that someone on a temporary visa or living in their home country but has a right to work/live here too?

This odd voting and candidate rights wouldn't be an issue if the numbers were very small. But we have no idea how many people are included.

The majority of people voting under these conditions probably do want a better country and do not want to change the culture. But we dont know the numbers who don't. And an organised minority always achieve their aims against an unorganised or unaware majority.

If the concern is about people not being ‘invested’ where are the calls to remove the right to vote from people who live overseas? It what way are they invested in what happens in a country they no longer live in?

Depends if they are overseas temporarily, have paid tax and intend to return etc.

If it's a matter of UK citizens living abroad, the stats are that there are nearly 5 million Brits living overseas, and less than 200,000 were registered as overseas voters at the 2024 election. So there's a difference in magnitude (and I don't think there's a big push on to get them all registered)

British overseas voters can vote in Parliamentary elections, but not in local elections. Which is fine. If you're a UK citizen abroad, you've got an investment in who forms the next UK government, but you're probably not going to be affected by who sits on Tintagel Borough Council.

And there's also the question of whether citizenship actually means anything, if there is a nation, or if you take the Green Party view that anyone who happens to be in the country should have exactly the same rights and entitlements as a citizen.

As far as Commonwealth voting goes, like I say I'm not totally opposed to it. There is a political issue where normie white Brits don't know there's such a thing as Commonwealth voting and are shocked to learn that foreign nationals can vote and indeed be elected. They'd be even more shocked to learn that there's no requirement to have a long-term right to remain in the UK, all you really need is a residential address.

I think a lot of this could be defused by having a residency requirement. Most voters will apply common sense and say that obviously the Jamaican nurse or Pakistani grocer who have been here for 40 years are a part of their community. The Deliveroo driver who just recently came here on a questionable student visa, not quite so much.

Another thing few people have noticed is that parliamentary boundaries are drawn up based on the size of the electorate in a particular area. If you get automatic registration of potential Commonwealth voters, that doesn't just add a couple of million voters to the register, it means more seats in London, Birmingham and Manchester. There are cynics out there who might think Labour is playing silly buggers with the electoral system to try and give itself whatever marginal advantage it can think of.

They can vote if on holiday or a student here.

There’s no requirement that you intend to return and the cut off of 15 years away was lifted in 2022. You could, like one of my best friends, have lived outside the U.K. for 30 years and be eligible to vote.

Immigrants also pay tax.

How would they be resident with the necessary ID needed to prove that they are eligible to vote if they’re ’on holiday’? That’s quite the commitment.

Also, I know that Sir Ed Davey, when not bouncing around on a space hopper, likes to fulminate against tax exiles in Dubai, but I would be willing to bet that the majority of overseas voters are just normal people whose work has taken them overseas. Even in the Gulf, there are a bunch of Brits out there just working construction.

As a Birmingham resident, I have long had to put up with Roman & Norse names of months and week days, Arabic numerals, the metric system, the Latin alphabet, a language full of French & German words, pop culture from the US as well as 2 Middle-Eastern religions (amongst several others).

I can cope with those impositions. And I haven't noticed Sharia law being attempted to be imposed on me. Just the same as everyone else in the UK.

Corruption, fraud, money laundering, illegal imports and using high street shops as a front for organised crime? Welcome to every city, everywhere, any point in recorded human history - completely unconnected to any faith.

'Any type of permission to enter or stay is acceptable, whether indefinite, time limited or conditional'

They would also need to be on the electoral roll which seems remarkably unlikely for tourists.

The Muslim Vote - We are Pro-Democracy and Anti-Genocide https://share.google/H65y8aE8d18xqbbUN

Give it time. I know of professional moderate muslim families made up of teachers and doctors who promote and use this website.

There's also the Muslim Brotherhood;
Ideology and Influence: The movement's overarching goal is the gradual Islamization of society and the eventual creation of an Islamic Caliphate. In the UK, Brotherhood-affiliated figures and organizations have historically exerted influence over major mosques, charities, and bodies claiming to represent British Muslims.
Somewhat perverse that this group are heavily funded by Qatar who the UK, USA and others have such large business dealings with.

The whole situation of no debate and accusations of Islamaphobia for questioning any aspect of Islam makes me feel like the wool is being pulled over us. Call it a racist conspiracy theory if you wish but in someways it's happening before our eyes.

They also have to abide by the same residency arrangements as any other voter. But sure, a holidaymaker is on the electoral register with the required photo ID needed to vote.

My word, you're doing some heroic whataboutism to avoid the actual issue of Commonwealth voting, and the fact that Commonwealth nationals don't need to have any kind of long-term residency to get on the electoral register.

But anyone visiting?!

Fucking hell. That's ridiculous.

Hopefully someone will challenge this on the basis that it is inconceivable that the existing law to which this relates was intended to allow people to pop here on holiday and vote in our elections.

I appreciate this is a Labour bill, but perhaps Hypnotits is cleverer at strategy than I thought and is looking forward to welcoming as many people as possible (on holiday during the election period) from outside the UK who believe his policies make sense.

Oh wait, that's not him being clever and strategic, if this bill goes through it'll be another example of him worming his way into being in the right place at the right time, one "spokesperson" role at a time.

Edited for clarity.