{"id":214804,"date":"2019-05-18T03:44:16","date_gmt":"2019-05-18T07:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=214804"},"modified":"2019-05-18T03:44:16","modified_gmt":"2019-05-18T07:44:16","slug":"eu-citizens-in-uk-to-use-eu-vote-to-have-a-say-on-brexit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/05\/18\/eu-citizens-in-uk-to-use-eu-vote-to-have-a-say-on-brexit\/","title":{"rendered":"EU citizens in UK to use EU vote to have a say on Brexit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Like other non-U.K. EU nationals, she was not eligible to vote in Britain’s EU membership referendum three years ago \u2014 and like them she saw her automatic right to live and work in Britain whipped away by the Brexit decision. (File Photo<\/a>: Tiocfaidh \u00e1r l\u00e1 1916\/Flickr<\/a>, CC BY-ND 2.0<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LONDON \u2014 Hedwig Hegtermans has lived in Britain for two decades, but she didn’t have a vote when the country decided in 2016 to leave the European Union. She’s determined to have her say on Brexit now.<\/p>\n

An election for the European Parliament being held this month in all 28 EU member states \u2014 including the not-yet-departed U.K. \u2014 is giving Hegtermans and other Europeans in Britain the chance to pass judgment on the Brexit decision that left their lives in limbo.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a way for people to voice their frustration,\u201d said Hegtermans, a Dutch citizen and member\u00a0of\u00a0The 3 Million, a lobby group for EU citizens in Britain.<\/p>\n

Like other non-U.K. EU nationals, she was not eligible to vote in Britain’s EU membership referendum three years ago \u2014 and like them she saw her automatic right to live and work in Britain whipped away by the Brexit decision. (The British government says all 3 million EU citizens in Britain can stay, but they have to apply for \u201csettled status\u201d through a somewhat glitch-prone new registration process).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not have a vote in the referendum, we could not voice anything while we were the people who will be affected the most,\u201d Hegtermans said.<\/p>\n

She said the May 23 election to fill the U.K.’s 73 seats in the 751-seat EU legislature \u201cis one way for us to let our voices (be) heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

The result\u00a0of\u00a0next week’s election won’t directly affect Brexit. But it will be interpreted as a test\u00a0of\u00a0public sentiment \u2014 almost a mini-referendum \u2014 and could sway politicians to take a harder or softer course as Britain heads for the exit door.<\/p>\n

That makes this the most high-profile European election in Britain in years \u2014 but it shouldn’t be happening. The U.K. was due to have left the EU by now.<\/p>\n

Instead, British politicians are deadlocked over departure terms and Brexit has been postponed from March 29 until Oct. 31 while they try to sort out the mess. So Britain is taking part, and the contest here is dominated by candidates promising either to speed up Brexit or throw it into reverse gear.<\/p>\n

Pro-European parties are eager to attract votes from EU citizens, who can vote in European polls though not in U.K. national elections.<\/p>\n

That’s why a former finance minister\u00a0of\u00a0Poland could be found recently standing outside a suburban London subway station, thrusting anti-Brexit leaflets at tired commuters. Jan Vincent-Rostowski, a London-born economist who served in a centre-right Polish government between 2007 and 2013, is a candidate for the newly former pro-EU party Change UK.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought that was something I could bring to the campaign, being both a British citizen \u2014 a Londoner born and bred \u2014 but also a Polish citizen who has done his bit in politics elsewhere,\u201d Vincent-Rostowski said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrexit is collapsing under the weight\u00a0of\u00a0its own internal contradictions. And if something bad is collapsing I think it’s a good idea to give it a push. That’s what I’m trying to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chipper and polite \u2014 \u201cCan I give you a leaflet madam?\u201d \u2014 he got a reasonably warm reception in suburban Ealing, a diverse London district that voted 60% for remaining in the European Union. Several Poles recognized him, stopping to chat or film him on their phones.<\/p>\n

But this is a heated and bad-tempered election. Both\u00a0of\u00a0Britain’s main parties \u2014 the governing Conservative and opposition Labour \u2014 are bracing for a hammering as voters frustrated by the Brexit impasse turn to parties promising either a definitive break with the EU or a chance to remain in the bloc.<\/p>\n

Thousands\u00a0of\u00a0Brexiteers across the country are flocking to rallies for the new Brexit Party led by former U.K. Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, who accuses the government\u00a0of\u00a0betraying Brexit and wants Britain to walk away from the bloc even if there is no divorce deal to smooth the way.<\/p>\n

Among pro-Europeans, Change UK is competing for votes with the centrist Liberal Democrats and environmentalist Greens. All support holding a new referendum that would include the option\u00a0of\u00a0remaining in the EU.<\/p>\n

Politics professor Tim Bale\u00a0of\u00a0Queen Mary University\u00a0of\u00a0London said EU citizens’ votes could deliver a boost to pro-EU parties, if \u201cthey can be bothered to come out and vote in what is such a depressing time for them. \u201c<\/p>\n

EU elections in Britain generally have a low turnout. At the last EU election in 2014, it was 35%, and Bale said a turnout\u00a0of\u00a040% this time would be \u201cstunning.\u201d<\/p>\n

EU citizens also must navigate a U.K. voter-registration process that requires them to fill out a form declaring that they do not plan to also vote in their home country.<\/p>\n

Hegtermans said there has been \u201cquite a bit\u00a0of\u00a0confusion\u201d about the forms, and the deadline for registration passed on May 7. It’s likely some Europeans will show up at polling stations only to be turned away.<\/p>\n

Others may stay away out\u00a0of\u00a0a common U.K. malaise: Brexhaustion.<\/p>\n

Europeans in London expressed a mix\u00a0of\u00a0enthusiasm and resignation at the prospect\u00a0of\u00a0an election that \u2014 three years after the vote to leave the EU \u2014 is dominated by Brexit.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a Polish citizen, I would love Britain to stay in the European Union,\u201d said 32-year-old Kate Staron. \u201cSo definitely I will vote and try to make some difference. .. I encourage everyone else to go and vote as every vote is important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marcel Wojtyniak, a 25-year-old data analyst also from Poland, wasn’t so sure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there’s a lot\u00a0of\u00a0exhaustion on the subject,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose I just moved on. I accepted the fact. I don’t really think the European elections are going to make that much difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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