Starmer rules out votes for EU citizens in pledge U-turn
Sir Keir Starmer has ruled out giving votes to EU citizens in a U-turn on a previous pledge.
In his 2020 Labour leadership campaign, Sir Keir had called for “full voting rights for EU nationals”.
Plans to give votes to settled migrants had been expected to be announced in Labour’s manifesto. However, the proposal was absent from a list of policies drawn up by leading Labour figures and union leaders in the run-up to last year’s party conference.
Asked on Monday whether he could rule out votes for EU citizens, Sir Keir replied: “Yes.”
Labour proposals to extend voting rights to EU citizens, disclosed by The Telegraph last year, prompted accusations that Sir Keir was trying to “rig the outcome” of future elections and “lay the groundwork for a referendum to rejoin the EU”.
Under the original plans, migrants who live permanently in the UK and pay tax would have been able to vote in general elections for the first time.
Taking questions after the first major speech of his election campaign, the Labour leader also suggested that his party could scrap new voter ID laws brought in by the Tories. The requirements mean voters must prove their identity at the ballot box with an official document such as a passport or driving licence.
Labour has criticised the Government’s implementation of the change, but has so far not committed to repealing it.
On Monday, Sir Keir said a Labour administration would look again at the rules, but added: “I think there is a review that has gone through in relation to voter ID – but at the moment I have to say my priorities are the economy, the NHS and the first steps that I have set out.”
He also defended Labour’s plans to lower the voting age to 16, arguing that people who have a right to work should be allowed to have a say in how their taxes are spent.
He said: “On the votes for 16 and 17-year-olds, I strongly believe if you can work as you can when you’re 16 and 17, if you can serve in our Armed Forces, if you pay your taxes as you do if you’re a 16 or 17-year-old, you have a right to say how those taxes are going to be used.”
