It is “common sense” that EU nationals should get voting rights in all UK elections, Keir Starmer, the leader of the UK’s opposition Labour party, has said, signalling a possibly softer stance between the EU and its former member should he become prime minister.
Speaking on Monday (15 May), Starmer said the idea that EU nationals who had made their home in the UK could not vote “feels wrong and something ought to be done about it”.
The opposition party, which now has an opinion poll lead of between 15 and 20 points over the ruling Conservative party, changed its policy to guarantee EU and third-country nationals voting rights in all elections ahead of the last general election in December 2019.
The election, dominated by the question of whether the UK would leave the EU or hold a second referendum on membership, saw a landslide victory for former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative party, who then formally took the UK out of the EU in January 2020.
Labour now appears increasingly likely to keep the policy on voting rights, which could cover about 3.5 million EU nationals granted ‘settled status’ under the UK’s post-Brexit Settlement Scheme, and thereby enjoying permanent residency rights in the UK.
The next general election in the UK must be held no later than January 2025 though most analysts believe the polls will be held next year.
“Let’s take someone who has been here for 30 years, has literally put down their roots here, is married to a Brit and has kids here,” said Starmer. “This is where they live, this is where they contribute, it’s very hard to say you should be voting back in your country of origin, it doesn’t pass the common sense test for me.”
Full voting rights in the UK are currently limited to citizens of the UK, Ireland and Commonwealth countries, though EU nationals are still able to vote in municipal elections.
Starmer has also mooted the idea of reducing the voting age in the UK from 18 to 16-year-olds.
The Conservatives have criticised the two proposals, describing them as a Labour plan to ‘rig’ future elections since EU nationals and young voters tend to favour parties such as Labour and the Liberal Democrats over the Tories.
“No other EU country allows EU citizens who are not their nationals to vote in parliamentary elections,” said Tory party chairman Greg Hands.
They have also claimed that voting rights for EU nationals could be a precursor for a new campaign to take the UK back into the EU.
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]
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