Backlash brews as Starmer is accused of a plot to reverse Brexit

Backlash brews as Starmer is accused of a plot to reverse Brexit and ‘rig’ the polls by giving millions of European workers in the UK and British teenagers the vote

• Keir Starmer is planning to allow Europeans in UK to choose MPs for first time
• The Labour party leader also wants to reduce Britain’s voting age from 18 to 16 
• Ministers accused Sir Keir of wanting to ‘drag Britain back into the EU by stealth’ 

Sir Keir Starmer was tonight accused of a cynical plot to ‘rig’ elections by giving millions of EU citizens and teenagers the right to vote.

Labour’s leader is planning the biggest increase of the franchise in a century by allowing Europeans who have settled in Britain to choose MPs for the first time.

He also wants to reduce the voting age from 18 to 16, and senior opposition figures and potential coalition partners are calling on him to scrap the first-past-the-post electoral system.

Labour MPs defended the plans by saying the opposition wants to ‘strengthen our democracy’.

But ministers pointed out that expats do not have the right to vote in EU countries’ polls and said the changes would damage the status of British citizenship.

Sir Keir Starmer (pictured at Progressive Britain Conference on Saturday) was tonight accused of a cynical plot to ‘rig’ elections by giving millions of EU citizens and teenagers the right to vote

Labour MPs defended the plans by saying the opposition wants to ‘strengthen our democracy’. Pictured: Sir Keir chairs a meeting with deputy Labour Party leader Angela Rayner, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves and shadow levelling up, housing and communities secretary, Lisa Nandy

They accused Sir Keir of wanting to ‘drag Britain back into the EU by stealth’ as well as guaranteeing Labour a majority at general elections.

Some MPs fear that a Labour government propped up by the Liberal Democrats or the Scottish National Party would also bring in proportional representation (PR) and hold another independence referendum in Scotland. 

Polling experts pointed out that younger people and migrants are much more likely to vote Labour than Conservative, and so the moves could lose Tories including Boris Johnson their remaining seats in London.

Conservative Party chairman Greg Hands said: ‘Labour’s plan to give foreign nationals the vote at parliamentary elections is laying the groundwork to drag the UK back into the EU by stealth.

‘Sir Keir spent years trying to block Brexit and overturn the largest democratic vote in this country’s history. This is an attempt to rig the electorate to rejoin the EU.’

He added: ‘The right to vote in parliamentary elections and choose the next UK Government is rightly restricted to British citizens and those with the closest historical links to our country. No other EU country allows EU citizens who are not their nationals to vote in parliamentary elections.’

Tory MP Henry Smith, who sits on the foreign affairs committee, told the Daily Mail: ‘Clearly this is an attempt by Labour if they get into power to rig future elections by extending the vote to 16 and 17-year-olds, as all the evidence shows that until they start paying taxes that age group tends to vote Labour.

Conservative Party chairman Greg Hands (pictured) accused Sir Keir of wanting to ‘drag Britain back into the EU by stealth’

Labour would also give the vote to about 3.4million EU nationals who have lived permanently in the UK and paid tax here for a number of years, according to the Sunday Telegraph. Pictured: Sir Keir at an anti-Brexit protest in 2019

‘What is more concerning is extending the franchise to EU citizens. If it was a Labour government propped up by the Liberal Democrats or SNP we would have pressure to introduce PR and probably a second referendum on Scottish independence. It’s a cynical attempt by the Labour Party to secure electoral advantage rather than addressing the issues that matter to people, and I hope people see through it.’

The voting age for parliamentary elections was lowered to 18 from 21 in 1969, although devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales have reduced it to 16 for local polls.

READ MORE: Keir Starmer accused of trying to ‘reopen Brexit’ and ‘lay the groundwork’ for a new referendum with Labour plan to give millions of EU nationals the vote in general elections 

And British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens can vote for MPs, while EU citizens who have lived in the UK since before the end of 2020 can take part in council elections. But Labour’s manifesto for the general election will include a long-standing pledge to lower the voting age to 16, enfranchising an estimated 1.4million young people.

Labour would also give the vote to about 3.4million EU nationals who have lived permanently in the UK and paid tax here for a number of years, according to the Sunday Telegraph, while a further 2.6million with ‘pre-settled status’ who have lived here for less than five years could eventually be included.

Sources at Conservative campaign headquarters said the policy could mean that citizens of countries yet to join the EU could one day get the vote in the UK.

One insider said: ‘Keir Starmer wants to relegate the status of British citizenship by giving the vote to foreign children. There are currently eight countries recognised as candidates for EU ascension, so in time Serbs, Moldovans, Bosnians and Albanians would acquire the same rights as British citizens to decide who is in government.’

Analysis suggests that EU citizens who have long lived in the UK are predominantly based in London and the South East, and if given the vote would increase Labour’s predominance in cities. Leading polling expert Sir John Curtice said: ‘London is already so overwhelmingly Labour – there are some Tory constituencies left, but not that many of them, and they are the ones that will be particularly on the line.’

A major increase in Labour voters could lose Boris Johnson his west London seat as well as fellow former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith in the east of the capital.

A major increase in Labour voters could lose Boris Johnson (pictured) his west London seat

Labour’s business spokesman Jonathan Reynolds said extending the franchise was ‘not our final policy position’ but added: ‘We do want to strengthen our democracy.

‘We believe if people make a contribution to this country, if they live here, there’s an argument for having them involved in that process.’ Told by Sky News that the changes would make it easier for Labour to win a majority, he said: ‘I don’t think that any changes to how the British state works, how democracy works, should be ever considered through any kind of party political lens.’

Sir Keir is reportedly opposed to proportional representation, the system under which people vote for parties rather than individual candidates and where seats are distributed in line with total ballots cast.

But as polls suggest that Labour may fall short of an outright majority, many in Westminster believe that the Lib Dems may insist on its introduction as the price for its support in a coalition government.

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