Press Release - For immediate release
Deputy Calls on Islanders to Register to Vote in Upcoming UK
General Election
Deputy Sam Mézec of Reform Jersey is urging the hundreds of Islanders who are eligible to make sure they are registered to vote in the upcoming UK general election.
The election rules in the UK state that British citizens are still eligible to vote in the general election, despite no longer living in the UK, so long as they were registered to vote at some point in the past 15 years - http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/register-to-vote/british-citizens-living-abroad
They will vote as if they still lived in the last constituency in which they were registered in.
“There are likely to be hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people in Jersey who have no idea that they are actually still eligible to vote in the general election. These may be British citizens who moved to Jersey in the last 15 years, or even the hundreds of students who studied at university on the mainland” said Deputy Mézec.
“This election is impossible to call, with the two main parties neck and neck in the polls and former fringe parties drawing more mainstream support. Every vote counts and any Islander who cares about the policies that will affect tens of millions of people across the UK, or may even affect Jersey and our relationship with the UK, should make sure they vote because it has never been more important.”
Deputy Mézec (who is still a member of the Labour Party) hopes Islanders will vote bearing in mind the important services Jersey residents get from the UK, particularly in health and education, where the NHS provides specialist services to Islanders when they are ill and the national curriculum that Jersey subscribes to. “Making sure we have a UK government that will protect those services will benefit Jersey. We also need to remember that jeopardising the UK’s position in the European Union, as some parties are intent on doing, will have serious implications for our finance industry.”
Voters must have registered to vote
by the 20th April, and must have applied for a postal vote by the 21st
April. This can be done online at - https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
Sam.
ReplyDeleteFormer Jersey Politician and THE JERSEY WAY.
So what, you want everybody to vote for Ed Miliband?
ReplyDeleteIndeed. I'll publish in the next few days a blog called "Why I'm Voting Labour" to explain why Labour is the only choice to safeguard the interests of Islanders who rely on the NHS for specialist care, rely on UK universities for their higher education and the finance industry which needs our link with the EU to continue to the thrive.
DeleteJust proves you are not the party that supports finance.
DeleteEd Miliband wants to blacklist Jersey so thanks.
I imagine he'd be happy if people voted Labour for their previous constituency, however, this is more a matter of informing people that they have a vote to use.
DeleteWhen I moved to Jersey from the UK, I wasn't aware that I could have actually voted in the last General Election. It's important to me that as many people turn out to vote as possible, and I applaud Sam for bringing this fact to the attention of Islanders.
Well done to the genius anonymous above. There is only one person I know brainless enough to make such an idiotic and inane point.
DeleteMost people wait till the evening before cracking open a Stella.
Hello Labour - Goodbye Finance Industry...
ReplyDeleteSammy - you can abuse people all you like, but it is a fact.
Oh deary me... Because the 13 years of the last Labour government were disastrous for Jersey weren't they!
DeleteI know the weather is gorgeous, but most people wait until the afternoon before hitting the Stella. Come on, keep it classy mate.
Its no wonder many people do not want to work with you the States by the way you address people on here. I thought you had some credibility but if attacking comments you don't like by calling posters drunk is the answer for you then you're not worth it.
DeleteJon, seriously. You're not fooling anyone. Give it a rest.
DeleteJon?
DeleteLike I said, you're not worth it anymore.
"Julie Hanning" will be getting all the notoriety and infamy (s)he has ever craved for very soon.
ReplyDeleteWho is Julie Hanning and why do you spend so much of your time attacking others online?
DeleteNo other States Member does it and most condemn it.
I have a funny feeling you know better than most people who Julie Hanning is...
DeleteJon, you use literally the same phrases and dumb arguments in every post with every fake profile. Do you really think we're so stupid we don't realise it's you?
Who is Julie, who is Jon and what drugs are you on?
DeleteI ask a simple question and I get a surreal answer.
You ain't fooling no one Jon.
DeleteYou're crazy.
DeleteSam. "Julie Hanning" might very well be getting "her" own posting on my Blog very soon. If the commenter at 08:41 wants to make contact we could probably swap some notes?
DeleteMore to the point what drugs are Jon, Julie, Sue Young etc on? Why doesn't the troll stick to his fake political forum with all of his friends from Sim City and leave real political questions such as you raise here to real people? But perhaps a more pertinent question for the Stella Kid to contemplate in line with your press release is this. Should people in prison be able to cast their vote? As for me sam. Milliband is far from perfect but Labour are the only credible show in town.
ReplyDelete'....the finance industry which needs our link with the EU to continue to the thrive'.
ReplyDeleteCould you please explain how Reform's policy aim of limiting immigration by introduction of an immigration cap is implementable if labour maintain our present arrangement with the EU, which allows unfettered movement of capital and people within the EEA ?
Thanks
As UKIP are quick to point out, ultimately some relationship with the EU means that you can't totally stop immigration (or high birth rates for that matter).
DeleteWe do have dispensation for work permits and housing qualifications though.
Guernsey doesn't have the same problem with immigration as Jersey (in fact their population is going down) because when firms bring in someone from outside the Island on a licence to work for them, one of the conditions is that they train up a local to do their job when they leave and they don't accumulate local rights whilst they are on that licence.
Those sorts of measures would help Jersey and aren't affected by our quasi EU membership.
It has nothing to do with the 'EU', and nor is the immigration from EU States have anything to do with the UK relationship with the EU.
DeleteDeputy, make sure you understand the actual reasons before having a guess.
Jersey has negotiated their own independent agreement, and as a result are a member of the EC Trading Area. As such, Jersey benefits from free-trade agreements with EU States, and as a result of that benefit allow free movement of labour from certain EU States without having to cough up thousands for each individual as a result of being a member of the actual EU. For example, Jersey had free movement of labour from Romania BEFORE they were granted access to the UK. So the free movement of labour is irrelevant in terms of Jersey's relationship with the UK.
It would be interesting though if the UK were to pull out of the EU, as then Jersey would have to abandon their agreement with the EU (Article 3 I think it is) in terms of free movement of labour, as the UK have overriding control of the Jersey immigration laws, other than, as the Deputy rightly points out, we can only limit with housing and employment licencing.
If someone outside of the EU wishes to migrate to Jersey, they first have to satisfy the points system and gain entry via the UK Home Office through the UK Immigration department. There is no provision to migrate to Jersey without going through the UK Home Office.
Asks a vague question, gets annoyed at a vague answer.
DeleteJudging by the tone of your response, that was inevitable.
And people wonder why I have little patience on this blog...
I asked the original question. The second response isn't mine. Perhaps you'd like to rethink your testy response and apologise accordingly ?
DeleteNope. Don't comment anonymously if you want to avoid this in future.
DeleteI understand you are busy, but hope you can find the time to answer my question. I see you have been posting on Facebook since the question was asked.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Sam,regardless of who you are pushing for, thanks for letting me know about this. I'll get registered.
ReplyDeleteTo the anonymous whose comment I can't be bothered to publish I will just make two points -
ReplyDeleteI do not, nor have I ever, found any trouble in getting people to work with me. Your observation is inaccurate and, given you have never attempted to work with me, ignorant.
On the wider point, in politics there are three types of people relative to me -
1) people who are naturally inclined to be on side with my political perspective
2) people who are naturally inclined to oppose my political perspective
3) people who fall into neither of the above categories.
The commenter above is in category 2.
Attempting to work with those people is futile. Their opinions won't be changed and when they engage with me their covert intention is to distract me from my own objectives which are contradictory to their own.
Attempting to work with people with a set of values I oppose to take the island in the opposite direction I was elected to argue it should go would be the most idiotic betrayal of not just own integrity, but of the trust put in me by my electorate.
You will not convert me to your backwards conservative values so either stop trying or stop getting annoyed when I ignore you and instead continue to unapologetically stand up for progressive values.
Sam.
ReplyDeleteAnother Citizens Media first and exclusive interview with Jurat election CANDIDATE.