Australian, Malaysia and other nationals voting in EU referendum

Having just read on the BBC news site that for some reason, people who are not UK citizens are being allowed to vote on the future of the Britain's role in the EU, I'm a little shocked. Is this a mistake? I know other non British people who are not allowed to vote, so why these people?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36316467

Having just read on the BBC news site that for some reason, people who are not UK citizens are being allowed to vote on the future of the Britain's role in the EU, I'm a little shocked. Is this a mistake? I know other non British people who are not allowed to vote, so why these people?

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36316467

From your link:

As a hangover from the days of empire, when so-called "British subjects" were included in the parliamentary franchise, Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK without British nationality retain the right to vote in elections.

Outrageous. They should be deported not given a vote.

Outrageous. They should be deported not given a vote.

I wouldn't go that far. Just seems odd how non nationals are voting in our elections. There are over 100,000 Australians and 59,000 Malaysians living in the UK. Thats a sizable number that can effect our electoral outcomes. British Citizens don't have the rights to vote in their elections.

Outrageous. They should be deported not given a vote.

I wouldn't go that far. Just seems odd how non nationals are voting in our elections. There are over 100,000 Australians and 59,000 Malaysians living in the UK. Thats a sizable number that can effect our electoral outcomes. British Citizens don't have the rights to vote in their elections.

It's substantially more than 159,000 (current estimates are half a million).

...and I have every faith in them. Smart people, the Irish are

Dare I ask, given this nuanced opinion of yours about Commonwealth voters, how you feel about expat Brits being denied the right to vote?

You might want to look into how many Irish (not Northern-) in the UK are allowed to vote.

 

It's substantially more than 159,000 (current estimates are half a million).

 

...and I have every faith in them. Smart people, the Irish are

The Irish connection is very different though. Ireland was part of the United Kingdom. Australia and Malaysia were part of the commonwealth.

The Irish connection is very different though. Ireland was part of the United Kingdom. Australia and Malaysia were part of the commonwealth.

They were British Subjects though weren't they through the Commonwealth links?

The Irish connection is very different though. Ireland was part of the United Kingdom. Australia and Malaysia were part of the commonwealth.

(not a dig, just a statement of fact )

Considering their numbers, and your theme about the effect of the non-British-but-voting's volume of votes on the referendum outcome, I'd have thought they would be of interest to you in this debate

how you feel about expat Brits being denied the right to vote?

They used the same rule during the Scottish referendum didn't they?

They used the same rule during the Scottish referendum didn't they?

There are other, fairly fundamental differences as well: the voting age was lowered to 16 and voting rights were consented to EU residents in Scotland for the Scottish referendum. There are no equivalent provisions for the EU referendum.

Indeed it is, but Ireland (the Republic) hasn't been a part of the UK for a century, and the distinction is irrelevant to the issue raised in your OP: the net effect is the exact same in 2016, the Irish residing in the UK are "not UK citizens being allowed to vote on the future of the Britain's role in the EU"

 

(not a dig, just a statement of fact )

 

Considering their numbers, and your theme about the effect of the non-British-but-voting's volume of votes on the referendum outcome, I'd have thought they would be of interest to you in this debate

On paper it's very similar but in effect I would say it's very different. English/Irish connection is much stronger than the Australia/England connection or the connection to any of our ex-colonies. We still have passport free travel between the Republic ir Ireland and the UK mainland.

On paper it's very similar but in effect I would say it's very different. English/Irish connection is much stronger than the Australia/England connection or the connection to any of our ex-colonies. We still have passport free travel between the Republic ir Ireland and the UK mainland.

I'm not disputing the possibility of a closer cultural angle, you keep losing the context of your own thread : the Irish outnumber the Aussies and Malays 5 to 1 or thereabouts and, unlike them, are citizens of a distinct EU member state with stronger rights of movement and residence in the UK than those of other non-EU Commonwealth citizens due to the UK's EU membership.