Dubai: UK expatriates living in the UAE should register online by May 16 at the latest in order to cast their June 23 referendum vote as to whether the UK should remain within the European Union.
UK embassy officials advise that postponing registration any later than that date could miss postmark deadlines excluding expatriates from having their say in a debate that has left both yea and nay camps divided as to the best future path for the British.
Of 5.5 million UK expats living abroad, there were 106,000 overseas electors on the commission’s register.
There are an estimated 120,000 British nationals living in the UAE.
Paul Fox, Consul General of Dubai and Northern Emirates, told Gulf News that the UK government firmly holds the position that staying as a full EU members brings with it economic trade and security benefits that far outweigh cutting ties with the European bloc.
“The Prime Minister has been clear that he believes the UK will be stronger remaining in a reformed Europe than we would be out on our own because we can play a leading role in one of the world’s largest organisations from within, helping to make the big decisions on trade and security that determine our future; we can work with our European partners to fight cross-border crime and terrorism, giving us strength in numbers in an increasingly dangerous world; and British businesses will have full access to the free trade single market of 500 million people, bringing jobs, investment and lower prices,” Fox said.
UK expatriate Jon Clarke, 46, a resident in the UAE for seven months, said it is his opinion that England is no better off being a member of the EU although he believes that other parts of the UK have clearly benefited from EU membership.
“From a personal point of view, I think England, rather than the UK, will benefit greatly from leaving the European union. The main benefactors in the UK as a whole from the EU have been the principalities, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, as the bulk of the grants issued as part of the EU subsidies have been there,” Clarke said.
“England seems to contribute most and receive least. Commercially, exiting the EU will have little or no effect on trade and will probably be of benefit to the UK in the long term,” he said.
UK expat James Domine, 36, believes in the so-called Brexit plan.
“I think the United Kingdom should leave the EU because that will allow us to regain our culture and identity across the world. Exiting the EU would allow the UK to restore its independence. I consider myself to be British, not European.”
UK expat Ruwan Wanigasekera said the UK should “remain part of the EU on the basis that we benefit from being part of the EU — visa- free travel around Europe.”
Membership also encourages “diversity — invariably, whenever there’s a financial crisis, first thing that happens is countries start becoming intolerant and begin talking about people from abroad coming and ‘taking their jobs’,” Wanigasekera said.
Steve Page, British expat, 47, said there are a range of issues to consider, noting: “We have short memories — the union was created on the back of the Second World War to secure and maintain peace in Europe. Right now in the world — with growing global terrorism — it is a time to stay close and unite, not fragment.”
Page said trade could become messy for a United Kingdom separated from the European continent.
“Extracting the UK from the EU political and economic framework will be politically and legally messy and very long — creating uncertainty in the UK economy for years. The EU is and always will be a key trading partner and negotiate trade agreements on our behalf of the UK. Staying within the EU, the UK keeps its voting rights and priority,” Page said. “If the UK left [to become like Norway or Switzerland] it would be still required to adhere to EU policy and law [like Norway and Switzerland] in order to continue to trade — but it would have abdicated its right to influence these policies and laws. Seems an illogical step backwards.”
UK expat Vijay Ramburuth, 35, said exiting the EU is a bad idea. “Yes, leaving the EU would give back Britain its independence and identity. But the UK economy is in a bad way and leaving the EU would isolate us trade-wise and could have long-term implications. Also, the freedom to travel within the EU would be restricted. And being out of the EU could also leave us without support in major crises, such as terrorism or an economic downturn.”
Expat deadline
To register as an overseas voter, UK residents overseas must previously have been registered in a UK constituency within the last 15 years.
Once registered, overseas voters can then choose between three different methods of voting. They can vote by post, by proxy (voting by appointing someone you trust to vote on your behalf), or even in person at their polling station if they will be in their local authority area on polling day.
UK Embassy officials say all British citizens living overseas who wish to vote in this referendum and are eligible to do so are encouraged to register at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote by May 16 at the latest.
Postal votes will be posted to overseas addresses between May 23-27 to meet statutory deadlines in the UK that are 12 working days before the vote for registering and 11 working days before the vote for submitting the paperwork which registers a person for a postal vote.
