A CAMPAIGN to allow all Reading residents a vote in next year’s local elections, regardless of whether they are a UK passport holder or an EU one, has been approved in the council thanks to cross-party support.
At a meeting of Reading Borough Council last week, councillors voted to approve a motion from Reading Liberal Democrats as part of the Our Home Our Vote campaign.
The party says that around 38,000 Reading residents were not born in the UK, according to the most recent census. However, they were contributing to the town, even though they were not eligible to vote.
Leader James Moore argued that from next year’s local elections, residents who moved to the UK after January 1, 2021, and not from Ireland, Malta, Cyprus, Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg or Poland, will not be allowed to vote.
He felt all qualifying foreign residents should be entitled to have they say about who runs the town, and called on the council to communicate with residents over the changes.
“Too many Reading residents could lose their voice in next year’s local elections if action is not taken,” he said ahead of the vote.
“The Liberal Democrats will continue to fight for everyone’s right to vote, while the Conservatives keep their heads in the sand.
“Without action tonight, there will be no one left to challenge the Conservatives’ Trumpian voter policies.”
All parties voted for his motion apart from the Conservative group, who abstained.
Cllr Liz Terry, deputy leader of Reading Borough Council, said: “The Labour Group were pleased that Councillor Moore and the Lib Dem Group agreed that I should second their motion on the Elections Act. The main thrust of the motion focused on the loss of the right to vote, or be a candidate, in local elections for many EU citizens who have, or will, enter the UK after January 1, 2021.
“In the motion debate, I noted that our town has a history of welcoming people from across the world. An often-quoted positive of living in Reading is how people from different backgrounds live well together.
“This Conservative Government’s legislation detracts from the inclusive and welcoming town that we are and doesn’t allow people who work here, live here, and pay their council tax here to exercise a right to democratic representation.
“Your home, your vote is a basic right that should be afforded to anyone who settles in Reading or anywhere in the UK.”
As a result of the vote, council leader, Cllr Jason Brock, will write to Minister of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities requesting that the franchise for local elections be extended in England and Northern Ireland to all qualifying foreign nationals in line with eligibility criteria in Scotland and Wales.
n Our Home Our Vote campaign can be found at: https://the3million.org.uk
