HL Deb 28 April 1982 vol 429 cc863-5

2.37 p.m.

Baroness Elles

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they are now prepared to take to enable British citizens resident in the nine other member states of the EEC to vote in the 1984 European parliamentary elections.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Elton)

My Lords, the Government are considering the European Parliament's proposals for a uniform electoral procedure under which nationals of member states would be able to vote in European Parliament elections irrespective of their place of residence within the Community.

Baroness Elles

My Lords, while I thank the Minister for that reply, will he appreciate that there are only two member states which do not already have regulations to deal with this problem, and that one is the United Kingdom? Will the Goverment please put forward proposals as soon as possible in order to implement this part of the resolution of the European Parliament?

Lord Elton

My Lords, my understanding is that at the last such election the Republic of Ireland did not have the system to which the noble Baroness refers, and that Denmark and Belgium did so only for those out of the country temporarily. And in the first direct elections in Greece in 1981 only those resident in Greece were entitled to vote. So we are not entirely alone in this.

Baroness Elles

My Lords, I did imply that there was one other country. Will the noble Lord take on board that there are at least a quarter of a million British citizens resident in the European Community outside the United Kingdom who are very anxious not to be deprived of their civil and political rights to take part in any election which affects them individually?

Lord Elton

My Lords, Her Majesty's Government are aware of this concern and indeed of the fact that there may be about 300,000 United Kingdom citizens living in other member states. This matter is under review.

Lord Underhill

My Lords, will the noble Lord give an assurance that the Ministry will keep in mind the position of many of these individuals in EEC states who may have been there for a very long period of years and have very little desire to come back to this country fairly soon?

Lord Elton

My Lords, the fact of their having lived so long abroad is one of the difficulties in devising a system to allow them to vote in a particular constituency in the country of their nationality. The French, as I think my noble friend has inferred, do have a system for this, but I understand that their nationals can elect for which constituency they will vote and this lends itself to fraud and a good deal of dubiousness about the votes cast.

The Earl of Onslow

My Lords, will not this problem go away once we have a uniform system for voting for the European Community Parliament? The sooner this happens, surely, the better. Then English citizens can vote in France, if that is where they live, and vice versa.

Lord Elton

My Lords, I take note of what my noble friend says. My experience of problems is that on the whole they do not go away.

Baroness Elles

My Lords, will the Minister kindly consider the possibility of giving proxy votes to residents within the Community? This might be one way of solving the difficulty of being attached to a particular constituency.

Lord Elton

My Lords, the matter, as I say, is under review. What my noble friend says will be taken careful note of, and indeed anything else she likes to say to me will he taken on board.

Lord Leatherland

My Lords, can the Minister tell us whether that means that those who have run away from the difficulties now prevailing in this country are to get the same privileges as those of us who have stayed here to see them through?

Lord Elton

My Lords, I understand that my noble friend would like those who have run away from the difficulties in this country to be pursued by them.