Under UK law, expats who have spent more than 15 years abroad are denied the vote.

Universal suffrage is set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Surely, Universal, means 'everybody'.

Expatriates are not going that far. They are very modest in their claims. All they want is the right to vote in elections.

At a time in the UK when there's great concern about participation in democracy, for the government to find reasons not to let them vote is curious indeed. One would think they'd be looking for reasons to get people to vote, because there is a danger to democracy if people don't vote.

We have a situation where expats pay their taxes but are not allowed to vote. They are allowed to live and work anywhere in Europe under European law that all previous Governments have signed up for. There is now a promise to hold a referendum on our future membership of Europe that could affect a large number of expatriates who are not allowed to vote. That is unacceptable.

 Lord Lexden will once more attempt to obtain Votes and Representation for expatriates, in the House of Lords this afternoon. Wednesday 23rd January

After Mr. Cameron's speech this morning, over one million British Citizens who live in Europe [450,000 are pensioners] should surely have the chance to voice their views, and I call upon you to support Lord Lexden