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| EU referendum: Two Britons lose EU vote legal bid | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Two Britons living abroad have lost their Court of Appeal battle over the right to vote in June's EU referendum. | Two Britons living abroad have lost their Court of Appeal battle over the right to vote in June's EU referendum. |
| The legal challenge was brought by World War Two veteran Harry Shindler, 95, who lives in Italy, and lawyer and Belgian resident Jacquelyn MacLennan. | |
| Under law, UK citizens who have lived abroad for more than 15 years cannot vote. | Under law, UK citizens who have lived abroad for more than 15 years cannot vote. |
| The pair took the case to the Court of Appeal after losing their application for a judicial review last month. | The pair took the case to the Court of Appeal after losing their application for a judicial review last month. |
| Mr Shindler and Ms MacLennan had argued the in-out vote on EU membership, on 23 June, directly affected them. | |
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| In April, they asked High Court judges to declare that section two of the EU Referendum Act 2015, which established "the 15-year rule", unlawfully restricted their right to freedom of movement under EU law. | |
| But the judges ruled that the section did not restrict their rights and rejected their application for judicial review. | |
| They then took the case to the Court of Appeal, where a one-day hearing took place earlier this month. | |
| 'Arbitrary and undemocratic' | |
| The appeal judges ruled on Friday that "the common law right to vote does not take precedence over an Act of Parliament". | |
| Lawyers for the expats say they will take the case to the Supreme Court, where proceedings are expected to begin on Tuesday. | |
| Mr Shindler, originally from London, said: "I am still waiting for the government to tell us why British citizens in Europe can't vote in this referendum. | |
| "The government had agreed to scrap the 15-year rule before the referendum bill was passed agreeing it was arbitrary and undemocratic." |