Their site includes advice about packing, insurance, and planning the date of your move. If you are planning a move you might find it worthwhile to take advantage of their free advice.

Electoral Commission Head of Campaigns, Clinton Proud says: “The referendum gives voters the chance to have their say on how MPs are elected to the House of Commons. In order to vote, you will need to be on the electoral register. We know that many of the 5½ million British citizens living abroad are eligible to vote, but are not registered.

“Distance doesn’t mean you can’t make your voice heard. You can apply to vote by post or by proxy, and the forms to do this, and to register to vote, are all available on our website: www.aboutmyvote.co.uk. The deadline to register is Thursday 14 April – so now is the time to act.”

The Electoral Commission is responsible for the conduct of the referendum on 5 May, and has instructed Counting Officers in Britain to send out ballot papers to voters overseas as early as possible after 14 April.

The question being put to voters on Thursday 5 May is:

“At present, the UK uses the ‘first past the post’ system to elect MPs to the House of Commons. Should the ‘alternative vote’ system be used instead?
“Vote (X) in one box only (Yes or No)”

For those of you not familiar with the Alternative Vote system (also known as the “Instant Run-Off” system, for reasons which will become clear), here’s a quick explanation:

From the point of view of casting your vote, there’s not a great deal of difference – it’s just that instead of just putting an “X” against one candidate’s name, you get to list your candidates in order of preference.

From the point of view of the count, it’s slightly more complex, but still pretty straightforward. If one candidate has more than 50% of the first preferences, they’re elected. Otherwise, the candidates with the least number of votes are eliminated and their votes transferred to the next highest-ranked candidates on each of their ballot papers. This process of elimination is repeated until one candidate has over 50% of the votes and is declared elected. (In other words, a run-off is held between all the candidates – but on the basis of just one round of voting. This contrasts with, say, France – where a second round of voting is held between the two highest-placed candidates.)

It’s not the most representative electoral system, by any means – there are several which more accurately reflect the will of the individuals that go to make up the electorate. But it would at least put an end to the absurd situation where a candidate can get elected when they’ve actually received fewer than 40% of the votes cast. (That’s not even a majority of the people who bothered to turn up and vote, let alone a majority of their constituents.) And it would also mean that future elections are likely to be decided by more than just a tiny proportion of the individual constituency polls.

If you’ve paid any kind of attention at all to the UK news over the last few months, you’ll know that public spending in the UK has been subjected to swingeing cuts within both central and local government. Cash-strapped councils have been forced to look for services they can cut with the least impact on everyday life – and have identified local library services as a soft target.

As many as 450 libraries and mobile library services around the entire UK may close as a result. The Isle of Wight stands to lose all but two of its 11 existing libraries. Even Leicestershire, where the council has vowed not to close any libraries, will have to cut opening hours at some facilities and slash the budget for new books.

Unsurprisingly, there’s been quite a backlash from authors, educationalists, parents and booklovers of all ages. The National Literacy Trust has pointed out that one in six Britons struggle with literacy skills, and that children who use local libraries are twice as likely to do well at reading. (Even though, these days, many branch libraries have been reduced to a limited supply of books of either literary or educational merit, their place largely taken by money-spinning DVDs. Sadly, not all libraries are still the “temples of learning” they once were.)

Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials, has blasted as “patronising nonsense” the Government’s Big Society suggestion that libraries should be run by volunteers. Quite rightly – with the best will in the world, the vast majority of volunteers won’t have the skills required to run a library effectively, and who’s going to pay to train them anyway?

There are all sorts of activities and events going on to protest at the cuts. Many library ticket holders are participating in mass shelf-clearings, all taking out their maximum allowance of books at once. Billy Bragg will be playing live at Charmouth library in Dorset. A band of “flying authors” will be visiting every one of Gloucestershire’s 43 libraries today. And a librarian Internet pal of mine, Phil Bradley, has reworked several wartime propaganda posters, which you can see on The Guardian’s website.

If you happen to be in the UK today and have a bit of time to spare, why not strike a blow for literacy and join in your nearest protest? You can find out more here:
CILIP Save Our Libraries Day

How do you celebrate New Year in your part of the world?  Why not write in and tell us what you’re up to?   We’re currently on holiday in Bangkok and will welcome in 2544 as the New Year.  What year is it in the local calendar where you are?

Are you making any New Year’s resolutions?  Personally, we don’t bother these days as we know from experience that we never keep them.

Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, we wish you all the best for the coming year!

About 0930 GMT a message came in on our contact form asking if Kay would be available to do an interview on BBC Radio London’s morning show presented by Vanessa Feltz. After a little bit of to-and-froing it emerged that today’s Daily Mail had carried an article about British expats never having had it so good – and foreign expats in the UK never having had it so bad.

Neither of us are fans of the Daily Heil, so this was a good opportunity to refute some of the simplistic nonsense it spouts. (The UK’s a terrible place to live, according to today’s piece. You watch, tomorrow there’ll be a story about the thousands of Johnny Foreigners flooding in. Funny how many of their stories seem to be about fear or envy.)