Category: Current Affairs

JAMES Franklyn Jackson is an accountant and former treasurer of Colwyn Borough Council and later the Falkland Islands Government.

He now lives in Carcassonne. Oh and he is standing in the UK General Election in May, he writes:

“My action was brought about by my interest and disgust in current and often corrupt voting systems and loss of my voting rights after 15 years abroad. Here in France, I have spoken to many about the absence of a vote and frankly, many are apathetic.

“I can understand this on the present need for annual registration in your last registered area when links diminish, MPs change, and often your vote makes no difference in a stronghold constituency. I have two concerns.

“Firstly, a possible EU referendum. It would be inconceivable to me that we should not have a vote. As Dominic Grieve, a former Attorney General said recently – exit from the EU could mean UK citizens living and working abroad becoming illegal immigrants overnight.

“And what would be the reverse effect of the position of millions of migrants living and working in the UK? I do not think this has been thought through.Secondly, there is the potential loss or reduction of personal income tax allowance.

“In a consultation paper, the UK Government estimated it could save some £400m. This really is small change in the overall scheme of government spending and just a sound-bite for political purposes. If you calculate from that figure the actual sum of income tax paid by these British citizens abroad into the UK coffers, it is disgraceful that the majority do not receive a right to vote.

“I and several others did respond to the consultation paper pointing out the likely effects of loss on income tax relief – return to the UK of many British citizens who could not afford the loss of up to £2,000 each per year, with the consequence of more pressure upon the already overburdened housing market and even more significantly, the creaking national health service.

“For our efforts, we have received no reply, not even an acknowledgement.

“In selecting Uxbridge and South Ruislip, I thought the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson to be the charismatic personality capable of obtaining media attention for our cause. He has already actively encouraged those British citizens abroad who are able to vote, to register to do so.

“He should be a great asset in support of obtaining a lifetime vote for Britons abroad and eventually representation in the British Parliament similar to the system where Mme Axelle Lemaire became an elected representative in 2012 in the French National Assembly for French citizens residing beyond France in western Europe.

“To become a candidate, I required 10 subscribers – ie registered electors in Uxbridge – to support my nomination without any commitment to vote for me. Contrary to my expectations, it proved to be an easy task.

“I could have got a hundred if required. I just chose an area from Google Earth, went door-to-door and had 10 signatures in 90 minutes. Once the objective of overturning the 15 year rule was explained, most residents were very supportive and signed without hesitation.

“One commented that it was disgraceful that British citizens and taxpayers were excluded from voting when the Government was considering giving the vote to prisoners (who incidentally are excluded from standing as Parliamentary candidates)! After paying £500 I became a candidate.

“I am not at all concerned with obtaining votes. Indeed, it would be a shock if Boris Johnson were not elected with a thumping majority.

“My objectives are to both raise awareness that many British citizens, passport holders, and tax payers, are denied a vote and to have some ammunition in the event of the Government pursuing the restriction of income tax personal allowance to its very own people.”

A SINGLE poppy has popped up close to the freshly turned vegetable patch, enjoying the spring sunshine like everyone else.

I HAVE been seeing more lines of pine processionary caterpillars along the forest paths close to where I live here in the Dordogne.

They have dropped from their white, candyfloss-styled webs high in the pine trees and will head to woodland floors in search of a place to pupate and it is when you will see the characteristic long lines as they follow each other nose to tail.

And while that is a view of nature to behold, the pine processionary caterpillar has a horrible ‘feature’, the small hairs on its back are poisonous and can be a terrible irritant if touched.

But cats and dogs are particularly at risk as the fine hairs can become embedded in the mouth, or stomach, and if not spotted quickly and dealt with by a vet, can prove fatal.

Beyond keeping your pets close to heel, there is little you can do to keep the caterpillars at bay. Professionals will use blow torch apparatus to burn the insects, but the trees in a small area will play host to hundreds of nests.

So just keep an eye out up until May for the pine processionary caterpillar, stay clear of pine trees if you are worried, and let the beasties progress on their way.

MUCH of France is enjoying a warm, sunny start to spring and all around the blossom is bursting from trees and bushes.

Here in the Dordogne those brave enough to venture out on to the veg plot have been planting a row or two of red onions, as well as a few hardy cabbages and cauliflowers.

When the end of the day draws in, the clear skies mean the temperature drop around freezing, there has been a touch of frost the last couple of nights.

But is also means there is a glorious end to the day as the sun sets in a dark blue sky.

A Devon councillor who moved to live across the English Channel in France is facing calls to resign.

Conservative Eve Barisic lives in Roscoff, a commute of more than 150 miles (240km) by ferry and road to her ward in Newton Abbot.

Labour parliamentary candidate Roy Freer called it an “insult to the people of Newton Abbot and to democracy”.

Ms Barisic, who moved seven months ago, asked to be judged on her performance.

Know someone from the UK living overseas? They could now register online to vote in UK elections. #passthemessageon http://t.co/axt0XtKh9E

— Electoral Commission (@ElectoralCommUK) February 5, 2015

THIS week the UK Electoral Commission has launched a dedicated overseas voter registration campaign.

The campaign aims to encourage British citizens living overseas to register to vote ahead of the UK Parliamentary General Election, due to take place on Thursday 7 May 2015.

To mark the start of the campaign, the elections watchdog is hosting Overseas Voter Registration Day on Thursday 5 February 2015 in a bid to boost the numbers of UK residents overseas on the UK’s electoral registers.

This is the first UK General Election where people can register online to vote. The Electoral Commission hopes that the new online process will encourage more UK nationals living overseas to register to take part in elections from overseas.

Estimates show that there may be as many as 5.5 million UK nationals living overseas, but there are fewer than 20,000 currently on the electoral registers.

To register as an overseas voter, UK residents overseas must have previously been registered in a UK constituency within the last fifteen years.

Alex Robertson, Director of Communications at the Electoral Commission said: “A lot of people aren’t aware that it’s possible to register as an overseas voter for the General Election.

“We need to challenge the misconception that once you’ve moved overseas you can’t take part. Many people can and now it’s easier than ever to take the first step by going online.

“That’s why we are urging UK nationals who are now living abroad to take five minutes on Overseas Registration Day to visit https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote and make sure they will be able to have their say at the General Election in May.

“Overseas Voter Registration Day is also the perfect opportunity for everyone to encourage friends, family or colleagues to check if they can vote and ask them to register online from wherever they are in the world.”

The Cabinet Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office are supporting the Electoral Commission’s campaign to raise awareness of voter registration among British residents overseas in the run up to the general election.

Enfin! Encore un peu de patience, mais @Charlie_Hebdo_ ressortira le 25 février. Rendez-vous donc dans tous les bons kiosques

— Laurent Léger (@laurent_leger) February 2, 2015

The next edition of Charlie Hebdo will appear on February 25, a journalist from the French satirical magazine said Monday, less than a month after 12 people were killed at their offices.

“Finally. A bit more patience, but Charlie Hebdo will come out on February 25 at all good kiosks,” said Laurent Leger on his Twitter account.

A so-called “survivors’ issue” published on January 14 had a print run of seven million, with a first batch selling out within minutes. Before the attacks, the weekly sold around 30,000 copies.

GRAHAM Richards died during the weekend of 27 to 28 December at his home at Mirande, Gers France. His death appears to have been as a result of falling down the stairs. He was in his mid-60s, writes Brian Cave.

Well before 2008 Graham had taken on the voluntary role of European contact for the Equitable Life Members Action Group (EMAG) a group which still seeks justice for the investors in Equitable Life Assurance Company, where incompetence of oversight by the British government brought a great many pension investors to financial difficulties.

It was with knowledge of this that he was approached in 2008/9 to see if he would take on the role of publicity officer for votes-for-expat-brits.com to support the campaign for the repeal of the 15 year rule which prevents several million British expats worldwide from voting.

He repeatedly urged the several million more expatriates who still retain the right to vote, to register to vote, using the many editorial and expat contacts he had developed over the years.

Graham had before his early retirement a career in the banking sector where he worked in the Gulf. His formative years were spent in the Clapham region of London. He was immensely proud of his early life as a Londoner.

He went to the local Grammar school and then started ‘at the bottom’ in banking and worked his way up.

He followed the local football teams and was at one time a referee.

From his first marriage he had two sons, the youngest Gregor became a Lieutenant in the Navy and was bridge officer on HMS St. Albans. Graham frequently mentioned Gregor’s career as a representative of Britain’s armed forces.

He repeatedly felt that the British government had let down the work of the retired military who chose to live abroad after retirement.

He married for a second time Josette, a Frenchwoman, who helped him settle near Mirande. She died of cancer two years ago and he greatly mourned her loss.

Graham would certainly wish that the fight to achieve democracy for the British citizen resident abroad continues. This fight must continue.

Expatriates everywhere owe him a great debt. It is partly due to his efforts as well as that of other campaigners, that UK MPs are now at last paying serious attention to the needs of expatriates. There is still much to do.

THE official statistics body, Insee, has said that the number of people living in France and its overseas territories in 2012 was 65,241,241.

This was an increase of just over 300,000 on the previous year, while if metropolitan France is taken alone then the number is 63,375,971.

Regionally and the Paris area is the largest by a long way with a population of nearly 12 million, Rhône-Alpes comes in second with 6.3 million and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur is third with just under five million.

Insee has also made a simple online database available that allows you to type in your commune and it will then tell you the population figure.

BRITISH prime minister, David Cameron, is targeting UK expats in an internet campaign by the Conservative party to get them to register to vote.

In a message on Facebook he said that few people living overseas were registered to vote, and clearly with a general election in 2015 he is keen to get people signed up.

Interestingly he points people towards a page overseen by his own party, with a message stressing that they need every Conservative supporter to back them ‘to secure a better future for Britain’, that asks for your name and email address.

With this complete you are then pointed towards the official government website where people can find out more about registering to vote in the UK from overseas, and go through a short online process to register.

It is estimated around one in five Britons overseas cannot vote in UK elections due to the ’15-year rule’ which bars long-term expats from having a vote.

While earlier this year a Conservative manifesto pledge said that they would end the 15-year rule should they win next year’s general election.