British PM defends Brexit ‘rights’ offer

Corbyn seek early poll

BRUSSELS, June 24, (Agencies): British Prime Minister Theresa May defended her offer to let millions of EU citizens stay in Britain after Brexit as fellow EU leaders responded coolly on Friday to her opening move in negotiations on Britain’s withdrawal.

A year to the day after Britons voted narrowly for Brexit, May admitted differences at the Brussels summit over guarantees to the 3 million EU expatriates in Britain, but said they would be addressed in negotiations begun this week.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was a “good start” but “not a breakthrough, to say the least”. Summit chair Donald Tusk, a former Polish premier, found it “below expectations” and said it could leave people, including 800,000 Poles, worse off.

“It’s obvious that this is about reducing the citizens’ rights,” Tusk told reporters of his “first impression” of May’s offer. “Our role in negotiations is to reduce this risk.”

May, facing the first European test of her authority after an election backfire cost her a parliamentary majority, pushed back, calling her proposal a “fair and serious offer”.

“Those citizens from EU countries that have come to the United Kingdom and who’ve made their lives and homes in the United Kingdom will be able to stay, and we will guarantee their rights in the United Kingdom,” she said.

“There are some differences between that and the proposals of the European Commission, but the matter will now go into the negotiations.”

Sitting alongside new French President Emmanuel Macron at joint news conference, Merkel said: “It became clear during the discussion last night that we have a long path ahead of us.

“And the 27, especially Germany and France, will be well prepared, we will not allow ourselves to be divided.”

Many leaders want to see details that May promised for Monday, including the nitty-gritty of how complex, multinational families would fare and what judicial oversight there would be.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel was among the most sceptical, wary of getting a nasty “cat-in-thebag” surprise. For Poland, Deputy Foreign Minister Konrad Szymanski said: “We appreciate the effort but the offer does not meet all the criteria the EU agreed on as red lines.”

In particular, the EU 27 want their citizens to be able to enforce their rights in Britain through the European Court of Justice, something May has ruled out. They also dispute her attempt to potentially limit those rights to people already living in Britain before she triggered Brexit three months ago.

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British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn has vowed to “try to force an early general election” after Prime Minster Theresa May lost her parliamentary majority, in an interview published Saturday.

Corbyn’s Labour Party outperformed expectations in this month’s election, turning what was predicted to be a procession for May into a disaster, severely weakening her authority as Britain kicks off crucial Brexit talks.

Corbyn told the left-wing newspaper the Daily Mirror that it was “ludicrous” to believe the Conservatives’ minority government could survive, and that his party “will challenge this government at every step and try to force an early general election.”