Another Starmer U-turn as he seemingly ditches aim to give EU citizens living in UK vote

Sir Keir Starmer seems to have done an about turn on the plan to give EU citizens living in UK vote Sir Keir Starmer appeared to ditch his aim to give EU citizens in Britain voting rights- in what could be yet another U-turn for the Labour leader. Sir Keirs’ desire to hand the vote to the millions of EU citizens who live in Britain will not be in his party’s new manifesto according to a new document, reports the Telegraph. Yet in his leadership election campaign of 2020 Sir Keir had called for ‘full voting rights for EU nationals’. However, in the list of policies drawn up by leading Labour figures and union leaders in the run-up to the party conference, he does commit the party to bringing in votes for 16- and 17-year-olds, which would add another 1.4 million voters. The National Policy Forum document that was published on Thursday says: ‘Labour will introduce votes for 16 and 17-year-olds, in line with Scotland and Wales, so that young people feel empowered and can fully engage in our democratic processes. The Labour leader’s aim set out in his leadership campaign is not in the new policy document ‘Those who contribute to our society should also have a say in how it’s governed.’ When the plan to given EU citizens living in the UK a vote was initially announced it prompted accusations that the Labour leader was trying to ‘rig the outcome’ of future elections and ‘lay the groundwork for a referendum to rejoin the EU’. It would have affected around 3.4 million EU nationals in Britain who have already fulfilled the requirements to achieve settled status – and another 2.6 million potentially being granted the same status in future. A Labour spokeswoman confirmed this was not party policy to the Telegraph. A Conservative spokesman said in the same paper: ‘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.’ Settled EU migrants do already have the right to vote in some elections in the UK. Trending SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info