THE SNP have slammed Tory plans to bar more than 90,000 EU nationals – who live, work and pay taxes in Scotland – from voting in the EU referendum.
The SNP have warned that the restriction being placed on who can and cannot vote would be a "democratic disgrace”.
The Prime Minister yesterday unveiled plans to run the upcoming vote on whether the UK should remain in the EU using the General Election electoral roll, excluding 1.5 million people from other EU countries.
This would also mean 16 and 17-year-olds would not be allowed to vote.
Christian Allard, the SNP MSP who was born in France and has lived in Scotland for that past 25 years, will be unable to vote.
That disenfranchisement, said Allard, was “unfair and undemocratic”.
Allard said: “One of the most positive aspects of the independence referendum was the vibrant democratic debate that it sparked across all corners of Scottish society. A key reason for that was the fact that EU nationals, along with 16 and 17-year-olds, were included in the voting franchise. Everyone who wanted to have their say could have their say. And they did. With turnout reaching almost 85 per cent, the vast majority of people chose to make their voice heard, with almost 90,000 EU nationals among them.”
The North East MSP continued: “EU nationals across Scotland make incredible contributions to their communities and to our national life, pay taxes and contribute to the economy – and for their voices to be silenced on this crucial issue by an out-of-touch Tory Government pandering to its own right wing and to Ukip would be nothing less than a democratic disgrace.”
Allard said: “This is no way to make people feel part of our society. EU nationals in Scotland and right across the UK can rest assured that the SNP will fight David Cameron’s unfair and undemocratic plans every step of the way.”
Not all EU citizens will be banned from voting. Using the same franchise as the General Election will mean that Irish, Maltese and Cypriots resident in the UK can vote. The vote will also be open to Commonwealth citizens and to Britons who have lived overseas for fewer than 15 years.
The Government also look set to increase the franchise to include members of the House of Lords.
A Number 10 source said: “No Brit under the age of 58 has had their say on the UK’s membership of the European Union.
“It is time to put this right and to give people the choice – in or out. This is a big decision for our country, one that is about the future of the United Kingdom. That’s why we think it’s important that it is British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens that are the ones who get to decide.”
Ukip Leader Nigel Farage said: “Ukip welcome the plans for the EU referendum franchise which seems both sensible and reasonable. To have done anything different would have been absurd.
“The decision about the future of this country should be made by the people of this country, and the easiest way to this is to use the Westminster franchise. The Government should be supported on this matter.”
Writing in a newspaper, SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson said that 16 and 17-year-olds must be included: “I don’t agree with having a referendum on EU membership but if it is to go ahead, then Cameron has a responsibility to help ensure it can be an enriching and open debate. Young people are our future. It is their UK – and their Europe – so they must have their say.”
Eurosceptic Conservative MP John Redwood said that there was no appetite from the young to vote in the referendum: “I did meetings in schools before the General Election. No-one who was 16 or 17 at those meetings was saying that they specifically wanted to have a vote on the EU issue, because they weren’t really interested in the EU issue. This is another myth put around by the pro-Europeans.”
Shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn disagreed: “If a person aged 16 or 17 is old enough to work, to pay taxes, to marry, to join the armed forces, why should they not be able to participate in our democracy? The younger generation, in my experience, is just as interested in the state of the world and the future of the country and this important decision.”
The chair of the European Movement in Scotland Derek Hammersley commented: “This is also a manipulation of the ballot because it presupposes a battle between British people and those from the rest of Europe, a case of narrow nationalism writ large. In a more recent aspect, the Scottish referendum poll did not exclude those from the rest of the UK and EU voting here as it was recognised that its outcome would have a clear relevance to their lives.
The EU referendum bill is expected to be tabled on Thursday after the Queen’s Speech.
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