Keir Starmer defied fury at a bid to ‘rig’ elections today as he insisted it is ‘common sense’ to give millions of EU citizens the right to vote.
The Labour leader said it ‘feels wrong’ that Europeans who have settled in Britain are not able to choose MPs – even though Brits do not have equivalent rights on the continent.
He also hinted that he would cut the voting age from 18 to 16, saying during an LBC phone-in that it was ‘not such an outlandish idea’.
Sir Keir even stopped short of completely ruling out ditching the first-past-the-post system in favour of PR, something that critics fear would put power in the hands of smaller parties and break the link between politicians and constituencies.
He merely said that was ‘not a priority’.
Keir Starmer hinted that he would cut the voting age from 18 to 16, saying during an LBC phone-in that it was ‘not such an outlandish idea’
Sir Keir insisted it is ‘common sense’ to give millions of EU citizens the right to vote
Sir Keir said does not pass the ‘common sense test’ that settled migrants who have worked in the UK for decades do not have full voting rights.
Referring to EU migrants who have lived and worked long-term in Britain, the Labour leader said that ‘feels wrong and something ought to be done about it’.
‘These are some of the ideas that are going into the mix, but they’re not policy – we’re just looking at them,’ he added.
Labour MPs have defended the plans by saying the opposition wants to ‘strengthen our democracy’.
But ministers pointed out that expats do not have the right to vote in EU countries’ polls and said the changes would damage the status of British citizenship.
They accused Sir Keir of wanting to ‘drag Britain back into the EU by stealth’ as well as guaranteeing Labour a majority at general elections.
Some MPs fear that a Labour government propped up by the Liberal Democrats or the Scottish National Party would also bring in proportional representation (PR) and hold another independence referendum in Scotland.
Polling experts pointed out that younger people and migrants are much more likely to vote Labour than Conservative, and so the moves could lose Tories including Boris Johnson their remaining seats in London.
Tory chairman Greg Hands said: ‘Labour’s plan to give foreign nationals the vote at parliamentary elections is laying the groundwork to drag the UK back into the EU by stealth.
‘Sir Keir spent years trying to block Brexit and overturn the largest democratic vote in this country’s history. This is an attempt to rig the electorate to rejoin the EU.’
He added: ‘The right to vote in parliamentary elections and choose the next UK Government is rightly restricted to British citizens and those with the closest historical links to our country. No other EU country allows EU citizens who are not their nationals to vote in parliamentary elections.’
Tory MP Henry Smith, who sits on the foreign affairs committee, told the Mail: ‘Clearly this is an attempt by Labour if they get into power to rig future elections by extending the vote to 16 and 17-year-olds, as all the evidence shows that until they start paying taxes that age group tends to vote Labour.
Labour would also give the vote to about 3.4million EU nationals who have lived permanently in the UK and paid tax here for a number of years, according to the Sunday Telegraph. Pictured: Sir Keir at an anti-Brexit protest in 2019
‘What is more concerning is extending the franchise to EU citizens. If it was a Labour government propped up by the Liberal Democrats or SNP we would have pressure to introduce PR and probably a second referendum on Scottish independence. It’s a cynical attempt by the Labour Party to secure electoral advantage rather than addressing the issues that matter to people, and I hope people see through it.’
The voting age for parliamentary elections was lowered to 18 from 21 in 1969, although devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales have reduced it to 16 for local polls.
And British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens can vote for MPs, while EU citizens who have lived in the UK since before the end of 2020 can take part in council elections.
But Labour’s manifesto for the general election will include a long-standing pledge to lower the voting age to 16, enfranchising an estimated 1.4million young people.
Labour could also give the vote to about 3.4million EU nationals who have lived permanently in the UK and paid tax here for a number of years.
A further 2.6million with ‘pre-settled status’ who have lived here for less than five years could eventually be included.
Sources at Conservative HQ said the policy could mean that citizens of countries yet to join the EU could one day get the vote in the UK.
One insider said: ‘Keir Starmer wants to relegate the status of British citizenship by giving the vote to foreign children. There are currently eight countries recognised as candidates for EU ascension, so in time Serbs, Moldovans, Bosnians and Albanians would acquire the same rights as British citizens to decide who is in government.’
Analysis suggests that EU citizens who have long lived in the UK are predominantly based in London and the South East, and if given the vote would increase Labour’s predominance in cities.
Leading polling expert Sir John Curtice said: ‘London is already so overwhelmingly Labour – there are some Tory constituencies left, but not that many of them, and they are the ones that will be particularly on the line.’
A major increase in Labour voters could lose Boris Johnson his west London seat as well as fellow former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith in the east of the capital.
Sir Keir is reportedly opposed to proportional representation, the system under which people vote for parties rather than individual candidates and where seats are distributed in line with total ballots cast.
But as polls suggest that Labour may fall short of an outright majority, many in Westminster believe that the Lib Dems may insist on its introduction as the price for its support in a coalition government.
