With the general election fast approaching, I’m finding myself in a dilemma. I am not British, and while I have been living here for 10 years I have reasons for not applying for British citizenship (mostly to do with the fact that the country I’m currently a citizen of will not let me have dual citizenship). So in the coming general election, I have no voice.
I’ve become a lot more politically active over the last few months, largely prompted by the Digital Economy Bill. I have written to my MP three times and called their office twice. I have written to Parliamentary candidates in my constituency to ask their views on secret lobbying and electoral reform. I display an election poster in my window, asking candidates to come and talk to me about their take on the Digital Economy Act. And every time I do one of these things I feel like a complete and utter fraud. Because they’re not my MP, or my constituency. They’re the MP and the constituency of all the people who live there and happen to hold a UK passport, and I’m not one of those people.
The running joke is that, should any Parliamentary candidates be foolish enough to knock on my door and want to talk to me I’ll do one of two things: If they’re Green or LibDem I will be completely open about the fact that talking to me is a waste of their time and they should go and convince someone who actually has a vote to cast; candidates from other parties will face a long list of questions I have on a wide variety of issues, to stop them from hassling other people for as long as possible. I guess that’s one way of making my voice heard, but to be honest so far hardly anyone (notable exception: personal note from the Green Party Parliamentary candidate in response to the poster in my window) has actually tried to talk to me – or anyone in Newcastle as far as I can tell: not in my street, not in the town centre.
Part of me desperately wants to have a voice, to be able to vote and participate in the political system of this country. I’ve been here for 10 years, I work here, I live here, my partner is British, I pay taxes and contribute to the UK economy and society in a variety of ways. I’m hoping to live in this country for years to come, and I’m hoping to raise my children here. There is a wide range of issues under discussion in this general election which will have a profound impact on my life and the lives of my future children. And yet, I have no right for my opinions to be heard.
Here’s a (non-exhaustive, in no particular order) list of the issues that I care about, and a little bit about why and how they’re playing out in the election campaign so far.
Education: From nursery school, right up until higher education and research funding, I care about it all. As I said, I plan to have children, I hope to raise them in this country, and I want the best possible eduction for them. Here are some buzzowrds to watch out for in the campaign: SureStart; academies; free schools; faith schools; sex and relationships eduction; league tables. Personally, I firmly believe that the state should provide high-quality education to all children, regardless of class or ability level, and that the state should control the school curriculum (as opposed to, say, private companies or religious organisations). I genuinely don’t want to end up as the kind of middle class parent who firmly believes in the theory of the state comprehensive but sends her children to public school because that’s the best she can do for them. On the higher education front, watch out for tuition fees, top-up fees, funding for research councils, funding for lower or equivalent qualifications, targets for young people in higher education. Will you/your children leave university in debt to the tune of 60k and go into a job market flooded with 2:2 media studies graduates?
Immigration: Every time I hear the phrase “economic migrant” – invariably said with disdain and contempt – I want to punch things. I’m an economic migrant (albeit a privileged one, with an EU passport). I would really like to see some balanced statistics about the impact of economic migrants on the economy. Yes, of course some of us aren’t fluent in English, and our kids might need special attention at school for a bit until they pick up the language, or we might need an interpreter at the doctor’s, but equally, we contribute a huge amount to the economy. Some of us, frankly, do jobs that British people wouldn’t be seen dead doing. Some of us are hideously overqualified for the jobs we end up in. Some of us pay higher rate income tax. Some of us volunteer in the community. Generally someone who comes over here as an economic migrant comes with the will and intention to work, make a contribution, and make a better life for themselves, not sponge off the system. That’s what being an economic migrant means. Stop talking about us like we’re some sort of plague.
Young people: There’s a separate post coming on this, but as a starter for ten, do you want your children growing up in a society where teenagers are seen as walking ASBOs? Where they have nothing to do and nowhere to go once they’re out of school? Where cities actively declare war on them, be it through disproportionately targeting them with stop-and-search powers, or making it hugely expensive for landlords to let houses to sharers?
Old people: Can you afford to put aside 8k at retirement? Would you rather the money to pay for any care you might need be taken out of your estate after your death? Would you like to work until you’re 80? (You might have to, what with retirement age going up, but then again you might find you can’t as the government refuses to extend age discrimination legislation to those over 65.)
Diversity, inclusion and equality: This one covers a multitude of sins. I’m a foreign bisexual woman. I’d be asking my Parliamentary candidates about addressing homophobic bullying in schools and homophobic hate crime on the streets; same-sex marriage/asking other countries to legally recognise UK civil partnerships; discrimination against LGB people in the provision of public services (It may be illegal but it still happens!); asylum-seekers who are persecuted in their country for their sexual orientation.
I’d also be asking them about the gender pay gap, availability and status of part-time work and other flexible working arrangements, parental/paternity leave, child care provisions. And while we’re on women’s rights and equality, let’s talk abortion. This is still very much a current issue. There was a serious attempt in this Parliament, strongly supported by the Conservatives, to significantly reduce the time limit for late-term abortions. Additionally, there are still nearly 1 million women in the UK without access to safe and legal abortion: the women of Northern Ireland. Just a thought.
And if I was having a laugh I might challenge my Parliamentary candidates to a little competition involving the Life in the UK citizenship test.
Climate change: Will your grandchildren live in a UK where East Anglia has been obliterated from the map? Is the long-term solution to climate change consuming less or coming up with clever technology to produce carbon-free energy, or even geo-engineering? And regardless of which of these things we go for, how do we actually get there? Is nuclear a safe bridging technology? How about if that nuclear powerplant or wind farm was in your village?
Transport: There’s no continuous motorway on the East coast north of Leeds (we’re getting there with the improvements to the A1, but right now there isn’t). And don’t get me started on ways of crossing the river Tyne. The rail network is a mess, and it’s cheaper to fly pretty much anywhere within the UK as well as outside (see also climate change). Public transport in many cities is not even worth talking about.
The digital economy: Is copyright infringement really a criminal offense? And will your Internet connection get cut because your teenage kid has been downloading music in their bedroom without you even knowing? Will Facebook sell all your data to Microsoft, and can you do anything about it?
Electoral reform: Do you really want to sit here in another five years’ time wanting to vote for one party but having to vote for another to keep a third one out? Do you want Alan Sugar and a bunch of bishops making the laws of your country or a fully elected second chamber? Do you want an MP tied to your constituency like a social worker, or a Parliament which reflects proportionally what everyone voted for and which deals with national issues? Do you think AV might just be a way of further entrenching the injustices and inequalities of the current system while blocking further reform because “we’ve just had reform, we should let it bed in”? Or do you think that first past the post is the best thing since sliced bread?
These may not be issues that touch you personally. Or you may disagree with my assessment of them. But I can guarantee that there are things being talked about by every political party out there that do touch you and that will have a very significant impact on your life over the coming years, regardless of who forms the next government.
I started this post saying that I found myself in a dilemma. Not being allowed to vote is half of it. The other half of course is that, if I had the right to vote, I’d have serious trouble making up my mind between a number of almost-identical candidates in a system that would disenfranchise me regardless because I don’t happen to support Labour or the Tories. Nevertheless, the only way – short, of course, of a revolution – that we can ever change anything is by turning out and voting. I’d encourage you to come up with your own list of things you care about and go talk to your Parliamentary candidates about it over the next week and a half, make up your mind based on the answers, and on the 6th of May go do the one thing I can’t do: vote.