Ministers’ language ignites expat fears
BiE sends firefighting letter to Boris Johnson
ALARM bells are ringing amongst expat groups across Europe as inflammatory language used by UK government ministers triggers new fears over their post-Brexit rights.
British in Europe has penned an open letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling for his government to do its 'duty' and protect the interests of UK citizens living in the European Union.
The letter is signed by the group’s steering committee British in Europe is an umbrella alliance of expat groups across the 27 member states of the EU including those in Spain, home to around 370,000 Brits.
The aim of the correspondence is to remind Mr Johnson of the promises made during the Leave campaign of 2016 and 'that his ministers’ language and policies matter'.
Home Secretary Priti Patel and Minister of State for Immigration Brandon Lewis are both identified in the letter over concerns triggered by their damaging statements the latest by Mr Lewis in an interview with a German newspaper and his use of the word ‘deportation’ and its meaning given historic links to the Nazi regime.
Britain is scheduled to leave the EU on October 31. In the case of no deal, rights of UK citizens living in individual European nations are dependent on reciprocal arrangements offered to EU citizens living in Britain.
The letter starts ‘Dear Prime Minister’ and begins: “It has been clear to us since this government took office that British citizens in Europe are simply not a priority in its Brexit plans. We have explained time and time again that no deal would be a disaster for us and our families.
“In addition, we have had to manage the fallout from Home Office ministers’ statements and their impact on our position in the countries where we live.”
It reveals in August, British in Europe 'pointed out diplomatically and privately' how expats were 'directly impacted' by the Home Secretary’s statement that free movement would end immediately in the event of no deal Brexit.
Grave concern
“Her name and announcement were mentioned to us specifically in meetings and her statement was reflected in the European
Parliament’s recent resolution on the UK-EU negotiations which caused grave concern about how the EU27 citizens will be treated by the UK in the future.”
And the letter pointed out that Brandon Lewis’s interview - with Die Welt - when he admitted EU citizens who failed to apply for settled status by the end of 2020 would be 'deported' again rang 'alarm bells'.
It asked: “Did he stop to think that the draft German no deal contingency legislation on the status of some 107,000 British citizens in Germany is currently being debated in the Bundestag? And did he think about the consequences of using the term deportation in a historic German context?”
British in Europe maintains that ministers were 'unaware or indifferent' to the consequences of their words to the position of expats in their host nations 'and are heedless to the principle of reciprocity'.
It continued, “Let us spell it out again: the status of 1.3 million British citizens, young and old, depends directly on the way in which EU27 citizens are to be treated in the UK. Language and policies matter - undermining the status of our EU27 friends in the UK undermines our status.
“This is a far cry from the promises that were made during the referendum campaign when Vote Leave - the group you spearheaded - pledged that nothing would change for the five million people whose lives would, in fact, be directly affected by Brexit.
“In fact, you accused those of us raising these entirely prescient concerns of ‘scaremongering’; and even if a deal is reached by the end of October, we will lose key rights anyway - such as free movement, cross border working and recognition of qualifications.”
British in Europe end the letter: “It gives us no pleasure whatsoever to have been proved right, and we call yet again upon the government to make good its duty to protect the interests of its citizens who reside in the EU27.”