EU citizens 'not eligible for UK referendum vote'

Citizens from most EU countries living in the UK will not get a vote in the referendum on Europe, No 10 has said.

The eligibility rules will be broadly the same as for a general election, rather than local or European votes.

Irish citizens in the UK are eligible. Residents from two other EU nations, Malta and Cyprus, also qualify, along with others from the Commonwealth.

The SNP's Humza Yousaf said excluding other EU citizens risked entering "into the rhetoric of division".

He urged the government to rethink eligibility rules.

David Cameron is to hold talks with the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at Chequers later.

Legislation for the voting eligibility of the referendum - which the Conservatives have promised to hold before the end of 2017 - will be introduced to Parliament via the EU Referendum Bill on Thursday.

The Bill will make clear that the franchise will follow broadly the same rules as the general election:

• British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens over 18 who are resident in the UK will be eligible to vote.
• So too will UK nationals who have lived overseas for less than 15 years.
• The franchise will not include 16 and 17-year-olds, unlike the Scottish independence referendum.
• Members of the House of Lords and Commonwealth citizens in Gibraltar will also be allowed to vote, although they cannot participate in general elections.
• In total, around 45.3 million people will be able to take part.

A Number 10 source said: "No Brit under the age of 58 has had their say on the UK's membership of the European Union.

"It is time to put this right and to give people the choice - in or out.

"This is a big decision for our country, one that is about the future of the United Kingdom. That's why we think it's important that it is British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens that are the ones who get to decide."

Eurosceptics have previously claimed that as many as 1.5 million people from other EU countries could have been allowed to vote in the referendum, if it had taken place under the rules for local government elections.

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