‘Don’t block lifetime votes’ says Harry Shindler

He said that as the party’s longest-serving member he was ashamed that Labour members recently tried to stop the bill at a ‘money bill’ stage [a formality to ensure measures in a bill can be budgeted for].

He said voting for all expatriates, promised in the last two Conservative manifestos, was a “not a political issue” but an “elementary right”.

On going to press the bill was under discussion by a committee of MPs, after an eight-month delay since it had a second reading debate in the House of Commons.

The government had decided to support a private member’s bill on the topic rather than introduce its own, however such bills have limited opportunities for debate. It is not expected to finish all stages in time for any new referendum or snap election.

British Community Committee of France chairman Christopher Chantrey said: “The ‘upskirting’ bill [penalising people who take indecent photographs of women] was originally a Private Member’s bill but Theresa May very soon backed it and it got real government support.

That is what she should be doing to the Votes for Life Bill.”