Key issues
Eight problems that come with being British and living abroad
Each has a policy group behind it. Each has a remedy we think a UK minister could defend in public — because a demand that cannot be sold to the wider electorate does not get implemented.
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Key issue
Spouse and Family Visas
British citizens who marry abroad often cannot bring their spouse and children home, because the minimum income requirement is measured against UK earnings they do not yet have.
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Key issue
Higher Education and University Fees
British children raised abroad are routinely classified as international students at UK universities, paying several times the home rate despite holding UK citizenship.
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Key issue
UK Bank Accounts
UK banks increasingly close or refuse accounts held by citizens with an overseas address, cutting people off from pensions, mortgages and their own financial history.
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Key issue
Fully Functional Voting
Only 52% of overseas postal ballots were returned in time to be counted in 2024. Having the right to vote is not the same as being able to use it.
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Key issue
Overseas Constituencies
France has 11 deputies for citizens abroad and Italy has 12 deputies and 6 senators. Britons abroad are represented by whoever holds the seat covering an address they left decades ago.
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Key issue
Better Government Communication
The UK government has no systematic way to identify or contact its citizens overseas — which is why 3.4 million people became eligible to vote and almost none of them found out.
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Key issue
Housing Loan Interest
British citizens living overseas are charged higher mortgage rates on UK property and shut out of most mainstream products, regardless of their income or record.
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Key issue
Frozen Pensions
More than 450,000 British pensioners abroad are paid the state pension rate they first received, with no annual uprating — for life.