Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2019 to Question 221547, on Voting Rights; EU Nationals,which EU member states have yet to confirm reciprocal voting rights for UK citizens residing in their respective state in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Robin Walker
The UK pushed for reciprocal rights to stand and vote in local elections in negotiations on citizens’ rights but they will not form part of the Withdrawal Agreement. Instead we are pursuing bilateral agreements with individual Member States where possible, to apply in a deal or no deal scenario. We are pleased to have secured the first such bilateral agreement on local voting rights with Spain in January and we are continuing our discussions with other Member States.
Asked by: Greg Hands (Conservative - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
What plans he has to change the time limit on the entitlement of UK citizens living overseas to register to vote in UK parliamentary elections.
Answered by Chloe Smith
British citizens living abroad retain strong links with the United Kingdom, no matter how far they have travelled.
The Government is supporting my Hon friend the Member for Montgomeryshire’s Private Member’s Bill on Overseas Electors which delivers our manifesto commitment to introducing votes for life.
Asked by: Greg Hands (Conservative - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
What plans he has to change the time limit on the entitlement of UK citizens living overseas to register to vote in UK parliamentary elections.
Answered by Chloe Smith
British citizens living abroad retain strong links with the United Kingdom, no matter how far they have travelled.
The Government is supporting my Hon friend the Member for Montgomeryshire’s Private Member’s Bill on Overseas Electors which delivers our manifesto commitment to introducing votes for life.
Asked by: Alan Mak (Conservative - Havant)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
What plans he has to change the time limit on the entitlement of UK citizens living overseas to register to vote in UK parliamentary elections.
Answered by Chloe Smith
British citizens living abroad retain strong links with the United Kingdom, no matter how far they have travelled.
The Government is supporting my Hon friend the Member for Montgomeryshire’s Private Member’s Bill on Overseas Electors which will remove the rule that bars British citizens who have lived abroad for more than 15 years from voting.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the potential cost to the public purse of removing the 15-year time limit on the right of British citizens living overseas to vote in UK parliamentary elections.
Answered by Chloe Smith
British citizens living abroad retain strong links with the United Kingdom. Their stake in our country must be respected and this Government will not deny them the opportunity to have their say in the way their country is governed. The Government is committed to introducing “votes for life”, scrapping the rule that bars British citizens who have lived abroad for more than 15 years from voting.
Glyn Davies’ Private Member’s Bill on Overseas Electors successfully passed its second reading in the House of Commons on 23 February 2018. A detailed Impact Assessment considering costing for the Overseas Electors Bill has now been published.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 29 March 2018 to Question 134171, if he will publish every individual response to his Department's consultation, A democracy that works for everyone: British citizens overseas, in addition to the published summary of the responses received on 8 February 2018 in A democracy that works for everyone: British citizens overseas - Response to feedback to policy proposals.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The summary of responses published in ‘A democracy that works for everyone: British citizens overseas - Response to feedback to policy proposals’ is representative of the feedback received. In line with established practice individual response will not be published.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the responses to his Department's consultation, A democracy that works for everyone: British citizens overseas, published on 7 October 2016.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Government published a summary of the responses received on 8 February 2018 in ‘A democracy that works for everyone: British citizens overseas - Response to feedback to policy proposals’.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether UK embassies in EU 27 countries are making preparations to engage with British citizens overseas in the event that the Overseas Electors Bill is passed into law.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office stands ready to support the Electoral Commission in their statutory duty to promote electoral registration among British citizens overseas, including if the Overseas Electors Bill is passed into law.
Asked by: Mike Gapes (The Independent Group for Change - Ilford South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans the Government has to extend the voting rights of UK citizens who are resident overseas in UK elections and referendums.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the Member for Halifax (Ms Lynch) on Thursday 7 September 2017 to written question 6973.
Asked by: Mike Gapes (The Independent Group for Change - Ilford South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to guarantee votes for life in UK elections and referendums for all UK citizens living abroad.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the Member for Halifax (Ms Lynch) on Thursday 7 September 2017 to written question 6973.