New migrants from EU must lose some rights, May insists

MIGRANTS from the EU who arrive after Brexit will have fewer rights than those already here, Downing Street confirmed yesterday.

Officials say Theresa May is determined to curb free movement during the transition period which begins next March, despite opposition from Brussels.

The announcement came after fierce Eurosceptic hostility to reports that the Prime Minister planned to cave in on the issue.

Jacob Rees-Mogg told the BBC: ‘I’d be astonished if Mrs May would make U-turn of that kind; she is a lady of great backbone and for her to kowtow to the European Union is, I think, unconscionable.’ During the transition period, due to end in 2021, EU citizens will still be free to live and work in the UK.

But ministers argue that they should not get other rights enjoyed by the 3.2million already here, such as bringing in family members.

The PM’s official spokesman yesterday denied there had been any change of heart and said Mrs May would be pushing for the policy at transition talks next month.

He added: ‘People arriving after March 2019 arrive in different circumstances. If you choose to come to the UK after that time you will do so in the knowledge that the UK has left the EU.’