European Union Referendum Bill — Clause 2 — Entitlement of EU Citizens to Vote in Referendum on the UK's Membership of the EU — 18 Jun 2015 at 15:45

The majority of MPs voted against allowing EU nationals resident in the UK to vote in the referendum on if the UK should remain a member of the European Union.

MPs were considering the European Union Referendum Bill^[1].

The proposed amendment rejected in this vote was:

• Amendment 18, in page 1, line 17, leave out from “electors” to the end of line 12 on page 2 and insert—
• “at a local government election in any electoral area in Great Britain, or
• (b) the persons who, on the date of the referendum, would be entitled to vote as electors at a local government election in any electoral area in Northern Ireland.”

An explanatory statement accompanying the rejected amendment stated:

• This amendment extends the franchise in the referendum to EU nationals resident in the United Kingdom.

Had the rejected amendment been accepted Clause 2(1)(a) of the Bill^[2] would have been affected, the clause set the starting point for eligibility to vote in the referendum and at the time of the vote stated:

• (a) the persons who, on the date of the referendum, would be entitled to vote as electors at a parliamentary election in any constituency,

The rejected amendment sought to change the basis of eligibility to electors at local government elections, which includes relevant citizens of the European Union. Provisions relating to members of the House of Lords and Gibraltar which the rejected amendment sought to remove would have been rendered unnecessary following the change.

• [1] Parliament's web page on the European Union Referendum Bill
• [2] Clause 2 of the European Union Referendum Bill as at the time of the vote.

Debate in Parliament | Source |