Brussels and Europe Liberal Democrats - the party's European branch - have today welcomed a commitment by the party to address the issue of voting rights for British citizens abroad.
In their general election manifesto, published today, the Liberal Democrats commit to "exploring options to strengthen and simplify the voting rights of UK citizens living abroad and address disenfranchisement experienced by some."
After yesterday's TV debate, this morning the leaders of the seven main UK parties have urged people to register to vote before the deadline this Monday, 20 April. So we are also making a last call to overseas voters, who belong to the millions who are not registered to vote in the UK, to register.
Harry Shindler sends this letter to all British Citizens in mainland Europe – End of March 2015.
As much as we distrust them, politicians are keeping us entertained and often on the edge of our seats. The main criticism is that some of the performances are just so bizarre you couldn’t make them up.
In Portugal, the current prime minister Pedro Passos Coelho and his predecessor José Sócrates have been indulging in a slanging match reminiscent of a Punch and Judy show.
They used to say the EU lacks a narrative. The crisis has remedied that. The high stakes poker game being played out by Angela “cool-hand” Merkel and Yanis “mother****er” Varoufakis has unleashed a colourful social media storm, which continues to throw up surprises, the latest being a successful German attempt at humour.
Featuring self-parodying stereotypes: blitzkrieg, parents slapping children, slapping generally, and the observation that “We started two world wars and almost won them both,” a video from Neo, a programme created by national broadcaster Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), is the latest to enter the fray.
We hope our readers enjoy this is non-partisan joke that can be enjoyed by all parties. It could be classed as politically correct!
How can any intelligent person accept the lies perpetrated by Iain Duncan Smith and the Department of Work & Pensions (DWP)?
O.K. The Winter Fuel Payment (instituted under Gordon Brown) was ill conceived
O.K. The WFP needs reform.
O.K. The UK Government needs to cut back on benefit fraud and waste.
On 2 December 2014, a bill to scrap the 15 year limit on overseas voting was presented to the House of Commons and unanimously accepted. It is due to go to second reading in March 2015.
This represents a unique opportunity to overturn the 15 year rule, perhaps even before the 2015 General Election, and certainly before any UK EU referendum takes place.
