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The Conservatives 2015 manifesto promised ‘votes for life’ for all Britons living abroad – in line with other major democracies, such as the USA, France, Italy, and Canada.
Four years on from Brexit, and seven and a half years after the referendum, the wounds we suffered still smart. Many were denied their democratic voting rights in the 2016 referendum. Many were denied the opportunity to vote against a Brexit government in subsequent general elections. / Yet we still had to deal with the consequences and the removal of our rights, benefits and opportunities.
While these events attracted much media attention, other constitutional changes have been taking place with little public awareness. These have strengthened governmental powers and weakened political and legal checks over governmental actions. Deliberation is being replaced by rhetoric and principles of good government no longer seem to restrain the actions of those in power.
Ever since the outcome of the Brexit referendum in June 2016, it seems like the UK constitution has lurched from crisis to crisis.
The ability for Parliament to shape and scrutinise trade deals is weaker now than when the UK was a member of the European Union, former Brexit negotiator Lord Frost has said.
A recent YouGov survey found 55 per cent of people would now vote to rejoin the EU, the highest number recorded. Eleanor Peake speaks to the new cohort of voters leading the charge.
The Democratic Unionist Party had an outsized voice in Westminster during Britain’s Brexit negotiations.
Reading Tories have held back in supporting a push that would allow all EU citizens the right to vote in elections after Brexit.
Neil Kinnock addresses the myth of the 'democratic deficit' in the EU.
If democracies continue to produce such dysfunctional leaders, the only beneficiaries will be authoritarian states with their repressive, brutal alternative.
The Retained EU Law Bill could see politicians, rather than the people ‘take back control’.
The government has suffered defeats in the House of Lords over plans to scrap certain EU laws by the end of the year. / Peers backed an amendment which would give Parliament greater scrutiny over which rules should be ditched.
Keir Starmer has said it “feels wrong” not to allow EU citizens who live and pay tax in the UK not to have the right to vote in general elections.
“You bring Brexiters on, you never challenge them. You let them talk utter rubbish about Brexit. Year after year after year.”
The speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsey Hoyle lost his temper with Kemi Badenoch when the secretary of state failed to inform the house of the government's U-turn on repealing retained EU laws.
Almost seven years on from the Brexit referendum, there remains uncertainty over the future UK-EU relationship. Reflecting on the lessons from the last seven years, Neil Kinnock argues there remains a clear case for the UK being an economic, political, social, scientific and cultural part of the Europe of the future.
'The second point, which has been widely ignored since Brexit, is that accession to the CPTPP highlights a major scrutiny deficit in the U.K. Parliament. Namely that Parliament is not asked to consent to this new agreement and has no veto.'
The retained EU law bill is an outrageously undemocratic attempt to transfer law-making powers from parliament to Whitehall.
Underrepresented and alienated, the reality of Britons in Europe post-Brexit is far from appealing.
The BBC’s Analysis editor Ros Atkins looks at the controversy surrounding the government’s plan to scrap thousands of EU-era laws.
"This is about protecting the integrity of our politics, our democratic system and our electoral process", Ben Bradshaw said.
‘Nothing less than the future of democracy is at stake’ says Caroline Lucas as a cross-party coalition and The Citizens win an unprecedented hearing over electoral safety and national security.
British citizens living in European nations believe they have had little or no representation since the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, according to a survey by University of Strathclyde researchers.