THE UK Government has been accused of leaving Britain’s three million EU citizens in “untold fear and misery” over the possibility of Brexit deportations.
Yesterday afternoon the Home Office repeatedly failed to guarantee the rights of EU citizens already living in the UK to stay here.
The distress this is likely to cause will be high on the agenda when Nicola Sturgeon meets European diplomats in Bute House today.
Answering an urgent question in the House of Commons, junior home office minister James Brokenshire said while there would be no immediate change in the legal status of those EU citizens who live in the UK, it would be “unwise” to make any guarantees before the Government had even started negotiations on leaving the EU.
Over the weekend, Theresa May, the Home Secretary and front-runner to replace David Cameron as Prime Minister, had refused to offer any guarantees, saying the Government would “need to look at this question” during negotiations to leave the EU.
Brexit will mean reciprocal discussions with the other 27 EU countries where 1.2m British nationals are living. May has argued that giving EU citizens a guarantee lessens the government’s bargaining position.
“It has been suggested the Government could now fully guarantee the right of EU nationals living in the UK to stay,” Brokenshire said. “This would be unwise without a parallel assurance from European governments regarding British nationals living in their countries. Such a step might have the unintended consequence of prompting EU immigration to the UK.
“In the meantime, I would like to stress that EU nationals continue to be welcome here.
“We have seen some truly abhorrent hate crimes perpetrated against EU nationals in the past week or so. We will not stand for these kinds of attacks, they must be and will be tackled in the strongest possible terms.”
Labour Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham, whose wife Marie-France is a Dutch national, said the Government had put itself in a ridiculous position.
“My wife Marie France is a Dutch national and our children are half Dutch. So many British families are similar to ours.
“To leave any uncertainty hanging over their right to be here is tantamount to undermining the right to family life in our country.
“That does not strike me as a very Prime Ministerial thing to do yet that is what the Home Secretary did yesterday.
“My own kids would quite like their mum to stay here forever if that is OK with her.”
SNP MP Philippa Whitford said her husband, who is German and has been a GP in this country for 30 years, is “anxious”.
“The Minister says there will not be an answer for several years. In what way should people feel reassured? We caused the problem; we should set the example, and then other countries will respond in kind – just give them the reassurance.”
Former Labour leader Ed Miliband was astounded that the Government was refusing to “give clarity on this issue”.
“Is it not obvious that the forced deportation of millions of EU citizens is something that no sane or fair Government would contemplate doing? Given that no Government would do it, all we see from the minister is that the Home Secretary has an incredible ‘negotiating position’ and is causing untold fear and misery for many people in our country.”
Speaking ahead of her meeting with EU diplomats, the First Minister said: “I have made it very clear that citizens of EU countries who have decided to make Scotland their home should receive an absolute guarantee from the UK Government that their status here is safe and secure.
“I have already written to the Prime Minister and the potential candidates to succeed him, calling for that assurance to be made without delay –and that is just one of the issues I will be discussing with consuls and diplomats at today’s summit.”
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