WE’LL SEND EU MIGRANT ‘SURGE’ BACK
Brexit Minister David Davis tells MoS he may send home Europeans who try to beat border deadline
NEW EU migrants who come to Britain could be sent home to stop a pre-Brexit immigration surge.
The warning by new Brexit Minister David Davis came as he vowed to take a tough line as the Cabinet supremo in charge of negotiations on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
In his first interview since being appointed by Theresa May, Mr Davis said he was determined to win a ‘generous settlement’ for EU migrants already here and for Britons living in EU countries such as Spain and France.
He dismissed the idea that three million migrants from countries including Poland and Romania may be forced to leave. But he said the Government may act if forecasts of a By Simon Walters
‘surge’ in new EU migrants coming to Britain before it quits the EU proved accurate.
Mr Davis said: ‘We may have to deal with that. There are a variety of possibilities.
‘We may have to say that the right to indefinite leave to remain protection only applies before a certain date. But you have to make those judgments on reality not speculation.’
His comments are set to spark a fierce row with the SNP. The Scottish Government has been a vocal critic of UK immigration policy, saying cutting the numbers of migrants does not recognise Scotland’s economic needs, as it faces an increasingly ageing population and some rural areas are struggling to attract skilled workers.
The warning of a pre-Brexit surge was made by Mrs May days before she became Prime Minister. She said: ‘We may well see people wanting to come here before [EU] exit happens.’
Mr Davis rejected Labour claims that questioning the rights of EU migrants already here meant effectively using UK citizens in the EU with similar rights as a ‘bargaining counter’ in Brexit talks. He said: ‘It is based on the presumption that they [the EU] will be rational about their own citizens’ interest, which they will be.’
His threat to send new EU migrants home will anger Brussels. Until Britain formally leaves the EU it must obey rules which allow free access. However, Whitehall says Brussels could not stop the UK repatriating EU nationals who arrive after a certain date. One said: ‘Bluntly, the EU cannot tell us what to do once we have left.’
Mr Davis dismissed claims that EU chiefs will refuse to negotiate before Britain signs Article 50. He said: ‘We don’t have to do any negotiations, just find out where their interests are. It’s not the same thing.’
He also rejected forecasts of a Brexit-induced recession. Freed from the EU’s shackles, the UK would become the ‘most open-market and open-minded country in the world,’ he said.
A raft of ‘fantastic’ new trade deals outside the EU would ‘buffer any turbulence’ caused by leaving.