Guarantee EU nationals’ right to stay in Britain, MPs tell May

EUROPEAN Union nationals who are living in the UK before the formal Brexit process is triggered should be allowed to remain permanently, an expert panel has recommended.

Theresa May’s refusal to agree the status of the nearly 3million Europeans in the UK unless the rights of Britons on the continent are guaranteed is ‘morally wrong’, according to an inquiry run by think-tank British Future.

It said the UK should ‘make the first move’ to show ‘goodwill’ as it begins divorce negotiations.

The panel, including a crossparty group of MPs, said all 2.8million EU nationals should be eligible for permanent residence with the same health, social and education rights as British citizens.

If found setting the date Article 50 is triggered as the cut-off point would be fair and legally watertight without leading to a surge in immigration from across the bloc.

Labour MP Gisela Stuart, a Leave campaigner who chaired the inquiry, said: ‘Our inquiry found that people from different sides of the referendum and politics can quite easily agree on practical, straightforward ways to ensure that EU nationals can stay in Britain with their rights protected. That’s the right thing to do and something that most voters agree with too.

‘We determined that the triggering of Article 50 should be the cut-off date, after which EU citizens moving to the UK would not be entitled to stay permanently after Brexit. This would limit any “pull factor” for EU citizens not already in the UK.

‘Britain should make clear at the start of the Brexit negotiations that EU citizens already here before that date can stay. This would send a clear signal about the kind of country the UK will be after Brexit and the relationship we want with Europe.’

The panel called for the permanent residence system, which is underpinned by European law, to be converted into the indefinite leave-to-remain status which is available to non-EU migrants.