‘Watch your tone’: Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner warns Commons of EU nationals’ anxiety as Brexit Day looms
Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner has warned that non-UK EU nationals are feeling anxious as ‘Brexit Day’ - January 31 - approaches.
Speaking in the House of Commons, he asked Stephen Barclay, the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union and Conservative MP for North East Cambridgeshire, for clarity on what the government was doing to help EU nationals.
He said: “Could I urge the Government to be careful about the tone that’s adopted at the end of January?
“They will appreciate that there are many who do not see this as a moment for celebration, and in particular can I ask the secretary of state what measures are being put in place for the large numbers of non-UK EU nationals - there are many in Cambridgeshire - who will feel particularly vulnerable at this point.”
Mr Barclay replied: “The member for Cambridge is absolutely right, and I would hope that colleagues across the House would always see that I try and take a tone that does reflect that.”
He added that the government had established a £9million fund to support outreach groups and charities, £1million of which has been focused on helping people to use the free settled status application process.
The UK is due to leave the European Union on January 31. The Withdrawal Agreement Bill is back before the Commons this week and due to go to the House of Lords on Monday.
The draft agreement, which sets out the Prime Minister’s deal with the EU, enshrines the rights of EU citizens to continue to live and work in the UK, and they will have until the end of June 2021 to apply for settled status.
But there have been questions raised about the application process, such as the help offered to older and more vulnerable citizens who may struggle with digital applications.
Mr Zeichner’s questions came after reports that documents leaked to the Guardian suggested the European Parliament was due to vote on a resolution expressing “grave concern” that the UK government had created “anxiety” among the 3.3 million EU citizens in the country.
The resolution, drafted by the main political parties in the European Parliament, is understood to raise concerns that the independent watchdog overseeing the UK policy’s towards EU citizens has been allowed to delegate powers to other bodies - an issue Michel Barnier, the EU’s Brexit negotiator, is also reported to have raised.
And the resolution is said to warn that without a physical document offering proof of their right to residency in the UK at the end of the transition period on January 1, 2021, EU citizens could be at “risk of discrimination” by “prospective employers or landlords who may want to avoid the extra administrative burden of online verification, or erroneously fear they might place themselves in an unlawful situation”.
Mr Zeichner said: “I’m glad that the secretary of state has acknowledged the anxiety that so many EU nationals are feeling, and we should be particularly conscious of their vulnerability at the end of January.
“What we need from the Government now is a stronger commitment to the protection of their rights post-Brexit, and real action to restore confidence in the settled status application process.
“The UK should be a welcoming country for our EU national friends who have chosen to make this country their home, and it simply isn’t right to leave so many people so anxious about their future.”
Brandon Lewis, the security minister, told the House of Commons on Wednesday that the application process had been successful, with 2.8 million applying and 2.5 million granted settled status already.
Visit https://www.gov.uk/staying-uk-eu-citizen or http://www.eurights.uk/ for more information.
Apply for settled status at https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families.
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