“It might well delay the referendum if we’re successful but it doesn’t have to. There are cases where legislation has been fast-tracked through Parliament in a few days,” said one man, a 94-year-old World War Two veteran currently living in Italy.
A problematic issue
It is an issue that is proving problematic for a Conservative Party already reeling from internal divisions exposed by the referendum debate and the fallout from Iain Duncan Smith’s recent resignation, not least because, in their 2015 manifesto, they pledged to introduce a “votes for life bill” that would abolish the 15-year rule which currently prevents some expats from casting a vote in the referendum.
A group of expats, including the 94-year-old war veteran, have taken the case to the High Court, arguing that the EU Referendum Act breaches their fundamental rights under European Law. It is easy to see why these people feel so unfairly marginalised when they are among the Britons likely to be most affected by the outcome of the June 23 referendum, with many fearful that they will have to revisit all their expat financial services decisions in the event of a Brexit.
“Penalised” for freedom of movement
“Our clients are being penalised for exercising their EU free movement rights,” said one of the lawyers representing the claimants. “The people [the EU Referendum Act] arbitrarily excludes are those UK citizens who are among those most likely to be affected by the decision taken by voters in this referendum.”
The government now has until April 1 to prepare and submit a written response to the legal action; only once this process has been completed will the court be able to decide if and how the case can proceed.
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In September 2017, it was announced that the Portuguese Government, following pressure from Sweden and a number of other European countries, was looking to water down the country’s non-habitual residency (NHR) tax regime, potentially bringing to an end a programme that has worked in the interests of expats since 2009. The uncertainty this proposed move provoked certainly threatened to put a dampener on the financial plans of quite a number of expats and would-be expats as they moved into 2018.
The Bank of England has dealt a blow to savers, but there is good news for borrowers. The base rate has been slashed to 0.25% as part of a raft of measures introduced to stave off the threat of recession after the Brexit vote. This is the first cut in seven years.