Thanks to Mrs May, EU migrants like me can feel secure
I WAS born and brought up in the Czech Republic, and have been fortunate to attend the University of Oxford and become President of the Oxford University Conservative Association. I have discussed issues pertinent to EU migrants in the UK with Theresa May, Nick Clegg, Nigel Farage and former European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. EU migrants make an enormous contribution to our country. In many parts of the UK, they keep the National Health going, look after our elderly and keep our streets safe. It has been an enormous pleasure and honour for me to contribute to the life of my local community, be it in church or the soup kitchen. The British have been kind and generous to me. Very few people voted for Brexit out of dislike for immigrants. The overwhelming number of Brexiteers are decent, respectful people, who recognise some level of immigration is beneficial. The vote was about taking control of the process and giving our Government the chance once again to decide who can come in. Once we leave the EU, we will be able to offer a fair and just system to people from Europe, but also from other parts of the world, including the Commonwealth. However, it is extremely important to reassure those who, like myself, have made the UK their home. Many EU migrants are anxious and insecure, particularly those who don’t have the language skills or legal education to follow the proposed legislation. That is why the Prime Minister’s offer to all EU migrants is so welcome. The claims that Mrs May’s offer doesn’t go far enough is wrong. What the Government is proposing is a system that is more liberal than the one currently in place governed by EU legislation. It makes it clear that all those who have settled in this country, and have a reason to remain, will be allowed to do so. The only people who are talking about ‘deporting’ EU migrants are the Liberal Democrats and others who oppose the result of the referendum. It is they who are making people nervous and insecure for cheap party political point scoring. The UK is a wonderful country to live in as a European, and that won’t change just because Britain is leaving the EU.
JAN NEDVIDEK, St Giles, Oxford.