The Local

The British govement said on Friday it will scrap the 15-year rule that had barred many British voters living abroad from casting a ballot in general elections back home. The UK govement said on Friday that the rule that has barred British nationals from voting if they have lived abroad for over 15 years, will be scrapped in time for the 2020 election. The govement published its intention to ditch the unpopular law, which Britons living abroad have long fought against, by publishing a policy statement titled “Democracy that works for everyone”. “We believe that overseas electors contribute to British society and should be given that democratic right to vote,” the constitution minister Chris Skidmore said. “We intend to give those overseas electors the chance to register quickly and securely so they will be able to register to vote in time of the 2020 election.” The govement will now draw up a bill which must be given the green light by parliament, but all being well,britain to allow 'three parent' babies,britain allows sharia law,britain allows dual citizenship,britain allows marriage,britain allows post-legion enlistment ...ادامه مطلب

Harry Shindler MBE. Photo: Rosie ScammellA British Second World War veteran living in Italy has said the UK vote to leave the EU will have disastrous effects on the country and on Britons living in Europe. Harry Shindler, 94, had fought to change a law that barred British expats who have lived abroad for more than 15 years from voting in the crucial referendum. But his appeal was rejected by the UK’s highest court in late April, effectively blocking some two million Britons living in the EU from having an input. “I’ve spent the moing weeping,” he told The Local. “I think it’s a disaster for Great Britain. It will have a very bad effect on Britons in the EU and it could have been avoided. David Cameron will rue the day he refused to give us the vote – an economist advised him to give us the vote – those who voted ‘leave’ will rue the day too.” British Prime Minister David Cameron, who backed ‘Remain’, stepped down on Friday moing. Shindler, a veteran of the Battle of Anzio and the liberation of Rome in the Second World War, said the more worrying thing about the outcome of the referendum was that those who voted ‘Leave’ made their decision based on “minor issues”, dismissing the 70 years of peace the country and continent have enjoyed thanks to the EU. A staggering 59 percent of those who voted ‘Leave’ were over the age of 65, compared to over 70 percent of those aged between 18 and 24 who voted 'Remain'. “All those who lived through bombings in London, Plymouth, and everywhere else...would have remembered how bad it was and should not want that to ever happen again,” Shindler said. “I would have thought that 70 years of peace would have been sufficient for people to say ‘we’re not going to change’ anything. The matter of peace is far more important than anything else.” Shindler, who has lived in Italy since 1982, was awarded an MBE in 2014 for his work in helping to find the graves of British soldiers killed or listed as missing during the war. In the High Court bid, ...ادامه مطلب

(L) Nigel Farage, leader of Ukip, which campaigned for Britain to leave the EU and (R) Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Photos: Geoff Caddick/Alberto Pizzoli/AFPSome 508 million EU citizens woke up on Friday moing to find their political landscape had changed forever, not least in Italy, where many people were left scratching their heads. Britain's 52-48 percent vote to leave the EU is the biggest blow the institution has sustained in its 70-year history, but where does it leave Italy? And how will it shape the country's future in the EU? Is the stage set for an 'Italexit'? “Contrary to popular belief, it has strengthened Italy's bond with the union,” Franco Pavoncello, a political science professor and president of Rome’s John Cabot University, told The Local. Although polls earlier this year showed euroscepticism was on the rise across the country, Italy's second most popular party, the Five Star Movement (M5S), publicly backed the country's membership of the EU for the first time on Thursday, bringing an end to years of anti-European rhetoric. In a post on his blog, the party's founder, comedian Beppe Grillo, stated his belief that Italy needed to “change the EU from within". “Italy has no intention of leaving the EU,” he wrote in the wake of the Brexit vote. “We are one of the founding members of the union and [our party] would never have stood for European elections if we didn't believe in it.” Grillo wrote that Brexit represented a “failure for the EU” but that his Five Star Movement would seek to create a European “community” instead of a "group of banks and lobbies". Grillo's tuaround makes an 'Italexit' look unlikely.  “M5S's pro-European stance is highly significant, and means that at the moment the political climate in Italy would not support a referendum on EU membership,” Luca Marino, professor of European economics at Rome's Sapienza University, told The Local. EU power politics While it may have strengthened Italians' resolve to stay in the EU, a , ...ادامه مطلب

Italian fashion icon Giorgio Armani has said he hopes Britain remains in the EU. Photo: Giuseppe Cacace/AFPGiorgio Armani has urged Britain to stay in the European Union, waing that the bloc would be worse off without England's influence on fashion and design. "I'm in favour of the British staying in Europe," the legendary Italian designer said in Milan, where a week of menswear shows wrapped up on Tuesday with the unveiling of Armani's main Spring-Summer 2016 collection."The island is part of Europe and I have always seen England as the avant garde part of Europe - the bit that moves, that develops, always the first to do something eccentric and to give space for art."   Britain is a relatively minor player in Europe's fashion industry in terms of manufacturing and global sales.   But the country's vibrant music and street fashion scenes have helped to make it disproportionately influential on catwalk trends.   British designers are dotted around the top fashion houses on the continent and London fashion schools attract talent from all over the world.   A recent survey of UK-based designers by the British Fashion Council found that 90 percent wanted the country to stay in the EU, mainly because of conces that Brexit would make it harder to export their wares and that inteational student numbers could fall through tighter visa restrictions.   Vivienne Westwood, one of the innovative designers Armani perhaps had in mind, said it would be "absolutely tragic" if Britain were to leave the EU.   "I am disgusted that we might leave," said the 75-year-old who made her name by putting punk style on the catwalk. "I'm ashamed of what is going on in England. It is awful.   "We fought two world wars to have cooperation and unity and now it is like every man for himself," added Westwood.   "And somehow the English have been manipulated into thinking they'll get more money if they leave and of course they won't because the whole world is bankrupt and everything is getting worse a, ...ادامه مطلب

Matteo Renzi (R) with British Prime Minister David Cameron in 2014. Photo: AFPItaly’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said on Friday that a British exit from the EU would be more harmful to Britons than the 28-nation bloc. Speaking on the sidelines of the Inteational Economic Forum in St Petersburg, Renzi told the Russian news agency, Tass: “Of course it would be a problem, but it would be a small problem for Europe and a much larger one for Britain." The premier has also expressed his dismay over the fatal stabbing and shooting of British Labour MP, Jo Cox, on Thursday. The 41-year-old was a prominent campaigner for the UK to stay in the EU. “It’s a horrible act of hatred that casts a shadow over the hearts of all of us,” Renzi said. “This hatred will never prevail, in Britain or elsewhere.” Come padre prima che come politico piango sconvolto Jo Cox. Con tutti gli italiani abbraccio la sua famiglia. L'odio non potrà vincere, mai. — Matteo Renzi (@matteorenzi) June 16, 2016 Let's block ads! بخوانید, ...ادامه مطلب

Italian marines Salvatore Girone (L) and Massimiliano Latorre (R) pictured in Kochi, India, in December 2012. Photo: Strdel/AFPIndia's top court Thursday allowed an Italian marine accused of killing two fishermen to retu home pending arbitration, the latest twist in a long-running case that has soured ties between the two countries. Salvatore Girone and fellow marine Massimiliano Latorre are accused of shooting the fishermen while protecting an Italian oil tanker as part of an anti-piracy mission off India's southe Kerala coast in 2012. Latorre was allowed to travel back to Italy in 2014 for treatment after suffering a stroke. But Girone has been barred from leaving India pending the resolution of a dispute between New Delhi and Rome over which country has jurisdiction in the case. Girone has been living in Italy's embassy in New Delhi. The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to alter Girone's bail conditions allowing him to retu, after a tribunal in The Hague ruled this month he should be free to go, pending the final outcome of arbitration. "Having considered submissions of the parties, subject to conditions, the Italian marine Salvatore Girone's bail conditions are modified," Justices PC Pant and DY Chandrachud said in a written judgement read out in court. Italy initiated inteational arbitration proceedings in the case last year, referring the row to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague and asking it to rule on where the men should be tried. Under his new bail conditions, Girone must retu to Delhi within one month if the PCA rules that he face trial in India. The Indian govement's lawyers have not objected in the Supreme Court to the marine's request to go home. The detention of the marines, the murder charges and the long wait for the case to be resolved are sore subjects in Italy, with Prime Minister Matteo Renzi regularly flayed by opposition leaders for failing to get both men home. Story continues below… Italy insists the oil tanker, the MV , ...ادامه مطلب

If you're one of over 2 million British people living elsewhere in Europe, June's referendum might be making you anxious. You should make your voice heard, says George Cunningham. Alex is a bright ambitious 26-year-old British-Asian student studying in Germany. A former flight attendant for a major airline, he made the decision to go to university later than most and is due to graduate with degree which could give him access to 28 job markets across the EU, as well as skills in German and Dutch. Gill is a 72-year-old pensioner living in France. She and her husband moved there when they retired 14 years ago and have settled in well with their local community. They have French and British friends and love living there. Both Alex and Gill represent different aspects of the British expat experience in Europe. And both share the same anxieties about what the future holds for them and other Brits after the EU referendum on 23rd June. At 2.2 million the UK’s expat community across Europe is roughly equivalent to a city the size of Manchester. That’s no small number but only a tiny part of the monumental headache any British govement would have to deal with when negotiating any post-Brexit settlement. Since David Cameron got his deal in Brussels and announced the date of the referendum we have seen a lot more discussion about what could happen to the rights, benefits and residency status of Brits living in EU countries. But we must remember that much of this is speculative: no one knows for certain what will happen if Britain chooses to leave the EU.   So the only way expats can be 100% sure of their pension and healthcare rights (to name but two)  is to vote ‘remain’ on 23rd June. It is that simple. This means that expats who can still vote should register for a proxy or postal vote as soon as possible. Only 109,000 British expats voted to register for the General Election in 2015. And that’s the global figure. Not the EU one.   George Cunningham, pictured outside the UK P, ...ادامه مطلب