EU citizens in West fear for the future
Around 27,000 citizens of the European Union living and working in the Westcountry are anxiously awaiting the outcome of next week’s vote on the Brexit deal – and preparing for an early trip home.
For more than two years since the outcome of the Brexit referendum, thousands of Europeans living and working in Devon have been living in limbo.
For more than two years since the outcome of the Brexit referendum, thousands of Europeans living and working in Devon have been living in limbo.
According to the latest ONS figures for July 2017 to June 2018, there are around 27,000 people from the EU currently living in the county – that’s about the same population as Newton Abbot.
And that is a drop of around 6,000 on the last count, from January to December 2017.
EU citizens accounts for about 2% of Devon’s population – that’s not much on the face of it, until you consider the huge role they are playing in filling thousands of jobs in healthcare, farming and tourism.
But it’s not just the economic impact that matters.
Nathalie Pilorget is an International (sales) Account Manager who works in Exeter but was born and brought up in France.
A French national, she has lived in Devon for 12 years and last year moved into her very own home in Torquay.
She said: “The day after the referendum, I was devastated. It felt that something had died, it’s difficult to describe but it felt like a grief for the Britain that I loved or the one that I thought existed but perhaps never did.
“But over time, I realised that the Britain I loved was still there and for many people they didn’t realise what they had voted for because a lot of lies were told.”
Last month, Nathalie became a first-time activist, joining the last mile citizens’ lobby at Westminster, organised by 3million, a campaign group fighting for the rights of EU citizens in the UK.
Nathalie said she felt so strongly that she took the day off work to join hundreds of others on the march.
“I really felt that I had to add my feelings for the campaign but I don’t feel that we got anywhere. It was just words.”
There is still much to be clarified in the UK’s plan for immigration post Brexit, said Lisa Mulholland, solicitor in the immigration team at Stephens Scown in Exeter.
She explained that the Draft Withdrawal Agreement confirms that the rights of European citizens living in the UK and for Brits abroad, are likely to be preserved.
However, the automatic right to live and work will end at the end of the transition period or if there’s a no-deal, could be as soon 30 March 30, 2019.
Europeans will be treated like any other foreign national wanting to work here and it will be skills and salary based. In practical terms, it means that after the transition period, all EU nationals in Britain will be required to submit applications to the Home Office under the EU Settlement Scheme if they want to stay living and working in the UK. Those living in the UK for five years will need to apply for settled status. And those who have been here for less than five years will need to apply for presettled status, with a view to obtaining settled status later.
The scheme will be implemented on a phased basis and will be fully open to all EU nationals in the UK by 30 March 2019. And while Nathalie believes that because she has lived and worked in the UK for so long, she should be granted settled status, there are no guarantees.
The spectre of the Windrush Generation also looms large over any promises made right now. Nathalie explained: “They too were made similar promises which we have found have not held up through the years.”
She is now concerned for her own future – what happens if she goes to apply for a job or wants to make a fresh mortgage application?
“I am concerned that potential employers will just put me to the bottom of the pile because they don’t want to deal with the complexity or are worried that I may be illegal in some way,” she said.
“I have considered leaving the UK but it would be a real heartache for me. This is where I have made my home.”
Lisa Mulholland explained that while the main concern for individuals is uncertainty about their status in the UK, for business, it is about future recruitment. In future, as Theresa May controversially put it, there will be “no jumping the queue”.
It means that without free movement, businesses will need to sponsor overseas nationals under the current work permit system.
Businesses will have to apply for a sponsor licence and the
‘The day after the referendum, I was devastated’
Nathalie Pilorget, who lives in Devon
salaries for some jobs in Devon and Cornwall will not be high enough to meet the current salary threshold test.
Geoffrey Cox is the managing director of Southern Healthcare, which operates six residential and care homes in Devon, three with an outstanding CQC rating. He says the minimum wage means there is no such thing as “cheap labour” but there is a desperate shortage of good nurses and care staff.
He said: “In the UK, people shy away from things that tend to be hard work and care work is quite hard. We rely on a group of people who are in a minority, who are fit and agile but more importantly are caring, affectionate and have empathy. These are soft skills that are in very short supply.”
He currently employs 220 staff and says around 80 are from the EU, including Romania, Poland and Latvia.
Of 20 nursing staff, four are from the UK, 12 are from Europe and four are from Africa and the Philippines.
He said: “When we first started talking about Brexit, I thought it would never happen but from the moment it did, I thought ‘this is not good’.
“For my staff that are here, they should be able to stay because they are settled and working but the problem will be in recruiting from the EU in the future. Already, recruitment is a nightmare.”