Population surge is biggest since the baby boom
PM reveals her negotiating position on European citizens She demands reciprocal deal for Brits living on the Continent
THE population has soared 538,000 in a year – the biggest rise since the 40s.
Some 62.4% of the surge was down to 336,000 more people coming in than leaving. The difference between birth and death rates made up 35.8% and there was also 9,500 more members of armed forces based here.
An estimated 65,648,000 lived in the UK at the end of June last year, says the Office for National Statistics.
That’s a 0.8% rise – the sharpest since the post-war baby boom hike of 551,000 in 1947.
ONS chief Neil Park said: “Migration was the main driver but there was also an increase in births and fewer deaths.”
MILLIONS of EU citizens living in Britain will be granted the right to stay after Brexit – as long as British expats in Europe get the same deal, Theresa May said yesterday.
The Prime Minister set out her negotiating position on migrants’ rights for the first time at a Brussels summit with what she called a “fair and serious offer”.
She said any EU citizen who arrived in the UK before a certain cut-off date will be given the chance to stay for five years.
They will then get a new legal status granting them the permanent right to live and work in Britain with all the benefits they currently enjoy – including access to welfare, pensions and the NHS.
But the PM refused to commit to when the cut-off date will be, saying only that it would be some time between the triggering of Article 50 this March and the day Britain leaves the EU in March 2019.
An earlier cut-off date could poten- tially mean some recently arrived EU citizens eventually being asked to leave.
EU citizens who have already been in the UK for five years or more will automatically be given this new “settled status” on the day we leave.
Mrs May told the other 27 EU leaders: “The UK’s position represents a fair and serious offer, one aimed at giving as much certainty as possible to citizens who have settled in the UK, building careers and lives and contributing so much to our society.”
She also said that if the cut-off date is earlier than Brexit day, EU migrants arriving afterwards will still get a twoyear “grace period” to remain after Brexit before having to apply for a visa under the UK’s new immigration system.
No10 sources were quick to stress that Britain does not want to start “sending people home”.
One senior official said: “The vast majority of these people are here working hard and doing absolutely vital jobs for Britain. We want them to feel welcome and we want them to stay. We don’t want to be sending people home.”
Mrs May failed to address the complex issue of whether the “settled status” would also apply to spouses, children or other family members. Government sources said the issue will be included in a paper giving full details of Britain’s proposal to be published on Monday.
However, the PM told fellow leaders that “the UK does not want anyone here to have to leave – nor does it want families to have to be split up”.
She set herself on a collision course with Brussels by rejecting outright the EU’s demand that Europeans living in Britain post-Brexit should still be governed by European courts.
A senior British official said last night: “We’ve been clear that we are taking back control of our own laws.
“The commitment we make to the EU
citizens will be enshrined in UK law, enforceable through our own highly respected courts.”
Around three million EU citizens live in Britain and around a million UK citizens live in Europe. Both sides have said an agreement on their futures must be a priority for Brexit talks, which began this week.
Brussels made its own proposal two weeks ago, saying the cut-off for new arrivals must be Brexit day. There was no immediate response from EU leaders to Britain’s offer, as Mrs May was only allowed to give a short statement at the end of the summit’s working dinner.
She had expected to arrive at the summit emboldened by a resounding election victory. Instead she crept in a weakened figure, with other leaders questioning privately whether she will remain PM for the duration of the talks.
Humiliatingly, after speaking she was asked to leave the room as the other leaders rowed over which country would get to host the lucrative EU agencies now located in Britain. German Chancellor Angela Merkel insisted Brexit is a secondary issue compared with the future for the remaining “EU27”. She added: “For me, designing the future for the 27 takes priority over the negotiations with Great Britain over withdrawal.” Mrs May is under mounting pressure at home to soften her stance on Brexit. Urging her to keep Britain inside the EU’s single market. Labour MP Chuka Umunna said: “Britain depends on free trade with our European neighbours, and if we leave the single market that trade will be hit and our economy damaged.
“The single market enshrines laws that protect workers, consumers, and our natural environment. Leaving the single market and throwing these protections away will leave working people worse off.”
Chancellor Philip Hammond is also pushing for a softer Brexit, and said transitional arrangements could remain in place for four years or more after we leave the EU. He said: “We will avoid cliff edges.”
■ The Tories edged closer to a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party yesterday – as DUP chief whip Sir Jeffrey Donaldson denied reports his party was seeking £2billion of funding in return for its support. No10 said talks were ongoing.
We want them to feel welcome... to stay. We don’t want to send people home SENIOR NO.10 OFFICIAL ON EU CITIZENS WORKING IN BRITAIN