Cheated out of our votes

Holidaymakers hit out as papers sent too late for them to have their say

- PAUL DRURY

SCOTS have begun flying abroad on holiday furious that the postal vote scandal has robbed them of a chance to have a say in Thursday's General Election.

Holidaymakers leaving Glasgow Airport at the weekend told how they can't vote after chaos led to postal ballots being sent out late.

PM Rishi Sunak had been slammed for calling an election during the Scottish school summer holiday.

Now delays in getting postal ballots out to those who will be overseas on Thursday means they have been denied the right to vote.

Last night, the Electoral Commission, which oversees the vote, said it would be launching a full investigation into the fiasco.

After checking in for her flight to Australia on Saturday, holidaymaker Lucy Urquhart-Dixon said: "I am raging I didn't get a postal vote."

The teacher with North Ayrshire Council said she had applied for her postal vote on June 14, five days within the deadline for applications.

However, the paperwork had not arrived ahead of her trip to Brisbane for a three-week break.

Lucy, 54, from the Isle of Arran, said: "I am staying with friends on the July 4 and planned to watch the coverage in Australia.

"But I will be sitting there knowing I had no influence in its outcome.

Picking an election date when many Scots are on holiday just shows what they think of us."

Cliff and Karen Woodman were booked on an afternoon flight to Boston, in the United States, knowing that they too were being denied a part in the national vote.