Power Grab: Labour Party Planning to Give Vote to Millions of EU Citizens and Teenagers — Claim

The left-wing opposition Labour Party of Sir Keir Starmer is reportedly set to run in the next general election on the promise to expand voting rights by giving the franchise to millions of EU citizens and 16 and 17-year-olds in Britain.

In an apparent attempt to vastly increase the Labour Party’s voting base, Sir Keir Starmer is reportedly planning on including the expansion of voting rights to non-British citizens from the EU who live and pay taxes in the UK as well as granting 16 and 17-year-old teenagers the right to vote in the party’s next election manifesto, The Telegraph reported.

The move, according to the paper, would impact an estimated 3.4 million EU citizens living in Britain who have met the qualifications of being a “settled” migrant, such as paying taxes. An additional 2.6 million foreigners from the bloc have been given “pre-settled” status, meaning that they could also one day be granted voting rights. It is also estimated that 1.4 million teenagers would receive the franchise should the plans go through.

During his 2020 leadership campaign to replace Jeremy Corbyn as the head of the Labour Party, Sir Keir argued for “full voting rights for EU nationals”, however, this is the first indication since that he intends on pushing forward with the idea. Already, some foreigners are granted the right to vote in some local elections, including parliamentary contests in Scotland and Wales as well as for local council elections.

While not confirming or denying the reportedly planned manifesto item, a Labour Party spokesman said: “Keir fundamentally believes that if you work hard and contribute to this country, not only should you be able to get on, but it is fair and right that you should also have a say in decisions being made for your community.”

A Conservative Party spokesman slammed the idea, saying: “Allowing foreigners to vote is Sir Keir Starmer’s admission that he doesn’t trust the British people.

“He is laying the groundwork for a referendum to rejoin the EU, something he campaigned so passionately for. And now he wants to rig the outcome.”

Polling guru, Professor Sir John Curtice, noted that foreigners and children were most likely to vote for the left-wing party.

“The presumption we all have, rightly or wrongly, is that they’re more likely to be opposed to Brexit, and therefore less likely to vote for the Conservative Party,” Sir John 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.”

Perhaps seeing that such a move may save his increasingly unpopular administration, far-left London Mayor Sadiq Khan hailed the idea of giving migrants and teenagers the vote.

“European citizens are our neighbours, our friends and our colleagues. They contribute hugely to our economy and enrich our society. They can already vote in local and Mayoral elections – and it is only right they should have their say by voting in general elections too,” Khan wrote on social media.

Currently, the Labour Party holds a commanding double-digit lead in voting intention over the governing Conservatives. Earlier this month, the left-wing party became the largest in England at the local level after the Tories lost over 1,000 council seats. The biggest gains for Labour were in Red Wall areas that had defected to Boris Johnson in 2019 in the hopes of “getting Brexit done”. The proposal to give away voting power to foreigners may therefore be a risky gambit for Starmer.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka