David Cameron urges expats to vote to stay in the EU

The benefits of the EU for British expats are “certain if we stay, uncertain if we leave”, said UK Prime Minister David Cameron this week. Photo: Jack Taylor/Getty Pool

Rather aptly speaking at the headquarters of easyJet in Luton, British Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday called on those British expats eligible to vote in next month’s EU Referendum to vote to remain in the EU to be certain of their rights to continue living abroad…

In an impassioned speech, the PM said that for Brits who live abroad to continue benefiting from reciprocal healthcare agreements, inflation-linked pensions and the right to buy and own property with very little red tape, voting to remain means that these rights “are certain if we stay, and uncertain if we leave”.

Currently, Brits living in other EU countries benefit from a range of deals designed to aid the free movement of people. For Brits in Spain, this includes a reciprocal healthcare arrangement, whereby the NHS pays its Spanish equivalent each year for the costs accrued by Brits using health services in Spain.

Spain does likewise for the costs its citizens bring to bear in the UK, and such an arrangement was set up under the terms of the EU. If the UK was to exit the EU, such a deal could be in jeopardy, Cameron warned.

Likewise, index-linked pensions for British retirees in Spain increase each year alongside inflation – a deal that was only struck under the EU umbrella. Should the UK vote itself out of the EU, then there is a strong possibility that this agreement will be rescinded, with British pensioners in Spain and other EU countries seeing their pensions frozen, as is the current agreement for Brits who have retired in places such as Canada, Australia and the USA.

As for property, although non-EU citizens can quite readily purchase a home in Spain, there are additional hoops that they have to jump through in terms of visas, residency permits and even mortgages. Currently, Brits can purchase a home in Spain with the same ease that they can in the UK, and while there is a strong argument that Spain would not want to “rock the boat” when it came to attracting British investors, there is no certainty that the government would not view Brexit as a good opportunity to introduce certain fees for British buyers.

Under the EU umbrella, the possibility of such regulations being implemented is slim.

Cameron and other politicians in the ‘Remain’ camp – which includes Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn – are aware that they must choose their words carefully when talking about the EU, knowing full well that nobody really knows what will happen if the UK decides to leave the EU.

However, Cameron’s speech at easyJet was perfectly pitched, evoking the “certainties” of the status quo – free movement, the right to access healthcare, lower barriers to property ownership, and increased pensions – over the “uncertainties” that a Brexit could result in.

Having faced weeks of vocal Brexit campaigning, the message from the Remain campaign is beginning to hit home, with a recent ORB Telegraph poll putting Remain ahead in the vote on 55%, compared to 42% for Brexit.