PLEASE STAY
Home Office reassure older generation of Scots Italians who fear they’ll be booted out after Brexit
HOME Office officials have insisted that they want Scots Italians to stay here even if there is a no-deal Brexit.
The Record told on Monday how gran Tina Crolla Stewart feared she would be deported if we crash out of the EU on March 29.
Tina, 71, was outraged that after living in Scotland for 59 years, she was being asked to prove she deserved to stay here.
Home Secretary Sajiv Javid’s department hit back, saying Tina and hundreds of others who moved from Italy to Scotland decades ago could stay.
A Home Office spokesman said: “EU citizens are our friends, family and neighbours and the Government has been clear that we want them to stay, whether we reach a deal or not.” He said the EU Settlement Scheme will ensure that all EU citizens living in the UK will have an individual status granted by the Home Office which they can use to demonstrate their right to work, housing and benefits. The spokesman added: “It will be as simple as possible for EU citizens to get the status they need. They will only need to complete three key steps – prove their identity, show that that they live in the UK and declare any criminal convictions.”
Officials denied there was any similarity with the Windrush scandal, which saw Caribbeanborn British citizens wrongly classified as illegal immigrants.
Some were taken to detention centres and dozens deported.
Tina, who raised two daughters after moving to Glasgow from Picinisco, near Rome, said she resented having to battle through red tape to stay here.
She said: “Thank you, Brexiteers. After living in Scotland for 59 years, I have to apply for permanent residence.
“I have worked and paid taxes all my adult life and now I need permission to stay. Absurd.”