Rishi Sunak says voting is a 'privilege' in attack on Labor plan for EU citizens

The new ID rules went into effect just in time for the recent local elections. Credit: Neil Hall/Shutterstock

Rishi Sunak said voting is a 'privilege' as he rejected Labor calls to give millions of EU citizens the right to vote.

Sir Keir Starmer considers plans to expand voting rights around five million EU citizens and other non-citizens permanently residing in the country.

The Labor leader said last week it was «wrong» to exclude EU citizens who live and pay taxes in the UK from voting in the general election.< /p>

At the same time, Labor is considering changing the law to allow over 16s to vote.

Sir Keir Starmer is considering plans to extend voting rights to around five million EU citizens. Photo: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty

But during a visit to Japan, the prime minister said his conservative government was unlikely to make such a change.

Mr Sunak said: “Our position on this issue hasn't changed. I think voting is a privilege.

“We have a set of rules that govern who has the right to vote. And we have no plans to change that.”

The prime minister also backed his government's demand that people show identification to vote in elections.

The new rules came into effect on time. for local elections earlier this month.

On Saturday, the BBC reported that, according to preliminary data, thousands of people were unable to vote.

Information collected by the broadcaster in 160 of the 230 councils, where polls were conducted showed that 26,165 voters were initially denied ballots. at polling stations.

Of these, 16,588 returned with valid ID, while 9,577 did not.

“Suppressing the Conservative Vote”

Former Cabinet Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg said last week that voter ID laws were an attempt «machinations» that backfired, claiming they effectively suppressed the Tory vote.

When asked if he agreed, Mr. Sunak disagreed, saying the new laws were «reasonable.»

“Point one: the Labor government passed these laws for Northern Ireland when they were in power,” he said.

>“Point two: they are used in a lot of other countries in Europe and even in Canada.

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“Third point: 98% of people already had one form of ID that met the requirements, and those who didn’t could apply for a free voter ID.

«That's all the facts that make me think it's quite reasonable, as in many other countries, including Northern Ireland, which is what the Labor government did.

«Also I think it's quite it is reasonable that honesty is in our voting system. This is my general opinion on this matter.”

“On voting issues”

Mr. Sunak said that the Electoral Commission will evaluate and publish its findings on local elections.

“But In general, I am very satisfied with the approach we have chosen,” he added.

Sir Keir confirmed last week that the party was «looking into some issues related to the vote.»

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He told the LBC he had failed the «common sense test» that settled migrants , who have been in the UK for decades, do not have full voting rights.

“The idea behind this is that if someone has been here for, say, 10, 20, 30 years, contributing in this economy, contributing to society, he should be able to vote,” he said.

«Let me bring this to life — I've knocked on many doors over the past few years and you sometimes walk through doors during general elections and you're greeted by someone who says, 'Look, I'm an EU citizen, I'm living here for 30 years, I'm married to a British man. My kids grew up and grew up here, now they work in the UK, we all work in a lot of community projects, but I can't vote.”

“It doesn't feel right and something like that. this should be done away with.»

«Not such a ridiculous idea,»

Sir Keir also said that allowing 16 and 17 year olds to vote was «not such an outlandish idea.»

< p>But Conservative chairman Greg Hands accused Labor of «laying the groundwork to surreptitiously pull the UK back into the EU.»

«This is an attempt to rig the electorate to reunite with the EU,» he said. .

«The right to vote in parliamentary elections and elect the next UK government is rightfully limited to British citizens and those with the closest historical ties to our country.»