THE UK Government has again refused to extend the EU settlement scheme but said applicants will be given protection if they apply by the deadline.
SNP MPs grilled Tory MP Chris Philp in the House of Commons on the looming deadline date of the scheme this month and fears that it may become another “Windrush scandal” if the deadline is not extended.
However, Philp, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Immigration Compliance and Justice, dodged questions on specific points made by the SNP parliamentarians, and said the scheme is a “UK success story”.
Alan Brown, SNP MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, was the first to grill the junior minister on the scheme.
READ MORE: 'Just over three weeks left to prevent a hammer blow to Scotland’s economy'
He said: “If you won’t heed our call to grant automatic status, will he at least look at extending the deadline for a year, in order to avoid another Windrush scandal?”
But the Tory minister refused to commit to extending the deadline, despite concerns being raised, and said: “The EUSS scheme has been open I think since March 2019, so it’s been over two years now, it certainly pre-dates Covid.
“I would just say to everyone in the country, in the United Kingdom, who is entitled to settled status to please apply by that deadline, and even if their status is not decided by June 30, providing they’ve applied by that deadline then status will be protected until the decision is made.”
And SNP MP Stuart C McDonald put pressure on the minister over late applications.
We previously told how campaigners have repeatedly warned the June 30 deadline will pass before applications are concluded, which risks EU nationals being stripped of their rights overnight – including their right to work.
This could have a knock-on effect on the Scottish economy. There are currently 400,000 waiting for their applications to be concluded.
McDonald said he was concerned there were a lot of “questions which still remain outstanding” at this late stage in the process.
He continued: “Now one of the most fundamental [questions] is what happens when tens, possibly hundreds of thousands, put in a late application and are having to wait for a decision. Will an EU national be able to keep working as a carer in our NHS in the meantime, or to rent a flat for the weeks or months they may be waiting for a decision, surely the answer to that must be yes, but is it?”
Philp said that as long as the application is made by June 30, “that particular person will be able to continue working and living as normal with status”.
McDonald said later that refusing to grant automatic residential status to EU nationals will have “devastating consequences” for the NHS.
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