Ph.D. Octopus   No taxation without representation  with 2
comments  by apini  Today is the day of the London mayoral
election.  Ken and Boris are squaring off over who gets to claim
credit for Imagethrowing money at London, and who gets to avoid
blame for transport failures. And I, a taxpaying resident of
London, who regularly uses public transport, do not get to vote.
As I’ve previously written, studying African colonial history
can help to prepare you for the weird and wonderful rules of
citizenship, and remind you that there is no ‘natural’ truth to
this stuff – it’s all a series of compromises and contingencies.
 So in the UK, citizens of Commonwealth countries, the Republic
of Ireland are allowed to vote in all elections, and the
European Union are allowed to vote in local, supralocal
(today’s), or regional assembly (Scottish parliament, etc)
elections.  So (some) former subjects of the Empire are treated
locally as citizens.  And current members of the EU are treated
(sometimes) as citizens.  Image  A