Javea Grapevine Issue 180 - LARGE FONT EDITION | Page 98

LOBBYING THE UK LORDS FOR THE VOTE in the EU
REFERENDUM

Many thanks to those of you who have already lobbied the
House of Lords to give all UK overseas voters the vote in the EU
referendum.  This has already had an impact:  on Monday,  Lord
Hannay (ex Ambassador to the UN) and Baroness Sue Miller,
will propose amendments to the Referendum Bill to ensure that
all British Citizens  would have a vote in the EU Referendum,
regardless of whether/how long they have lived abroad.  
To ensure that an amendment to the franchise is accepted, and
that people directly and seriously affected by the EU Referendum
have a say, we need to ask for your support again.  There are two
ways in which you can help:1. Please complete this questionnaire circulated by the New
Europeans. The aim is to gather feedback from both overseas voters
and UK voters concerning the franchise for the EU Referendum. 
The information gathered will be collated and provided to peers to
back up lobbying efforts by New Europeans, the Votes for Expat
Brits campaign, and other organisations lobbying on this issue: 
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/93ZG6N9
 2. PLEASE LOBBY A LORD if you have not already done so.   The
EU Referendum Bill is currently in committee stage, 1st and 2nd
readings having taken place.  Peers have introduced amendments
and these have to be accepted for further debate at report stage. 
Only if an accepted amendment passes at report stage, will it be
debated in the House of Commons.  If not - the matter is dead.  So
we need to keep lobbying to ensure that the amendments to be
launched on Monday are accepted for debate at the next report
stage.  How to lobby:Go to  --http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/lords/