Migrants can remain after Brexit, officials concede

EU migrants who arrive in the UK over the next 18 months will be entitled to stay in Britain permanently after Brexit, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.

British officials believe that the question of citizens’ rights is “done and dusted” after conceding that all migrants who arrive in the UK by March 2019 will be entitled to stay without restrictions. The Prime Minister previously suggested a cut-off date of March of this year but the UK has now dropped that threat.

Mrs May will today assure EU citizens already living in the UK that they will not be evicted after Brexit and says she is within “touching distance” of securing a deal on their rights.

In a letter to 100,000 EU citizens who have applied for residence, she will say: “When we started this process, some accused us of treating EU nationals as bargaining chips. Nothing could have been further from the truth. EU citizens who have made their lives in the UK have made a huge contribution to our country. And we want them and their families to stay. I couldn’t be clearer: EU citizens living lawfully in the UK today will be able to stay.”

British officials, meanwhile, believe that they have persuaded Brussels to abandon a demand for EU citizens to be given the right to bring spouses and other relatives to the UK after Brexit. They will instead be subject to a minimum income test.

The news comes as UK ministers are convinced that the EU is deliberately stalling negotiations in a bid to extract a bigger “divorce bill” from the UK.

Antonio Tajani, the president of the European Parliament, said yesterday that the €20billion (£18bn) offered by Theresa May as part of a transition deal was “peanuts”. Senior EU sources have said that a large divorce bill is the only way to break the deadlock.

David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, said this week: “They are using time pressure to see whether they can get more money out of us. I am sure we will get there in time to get a decent outcome.”