This is an important piece. Much of the debate (such as it is) has focussed on whether EU citizens can "stay" in the UK (and vice versa). But that misses the point. /1 politics.co.uk/comment-analys… via @politics_co_uk
I don't think there is much doubt that the UK government would not start to deport EU27 citizens en masse after 29 March. This is not what causes the anxiety though. The focus has been on "allowed to stay" - but what does that mean? /2
Essentially it boils down to a binary question of whether an individual would be allowed to continue to live in the UK. But this ignores basic facts. First, many EU citizens have been in the UK for a long time. So anxiety is not about "staying". It is the terms and conditions. /3
Would EU citizens continue to have the same rights? For example, non-discrimination: when going for a job would an employer have to treat them the same as a UK national? What about recognition of professional qualifications? Protection against arbitrary decisions? /4
What about (seemingly) simple things like driving licences issued in the EU and currently recognised in the UK - would someone be able to drive to work etc the day after Brexit (legally)? What would need to be shown to get a bank loan, mortgage etc? This stuff matters, now. /5
In so many ways, citizens' rights reflect the reality of Brexit: extracting the UK from 40+ years of integration without a plan. People have made lives in this country, and vice versa, and we have only begun to scratch the surface of the issues that might be faced. /6
These are likely to go on for years and years (for a comparable example, a Slovak friend was telling me about the ongoing issues over pensions etc from when Czechoslovakia was one country over 25 years ago). And who knows how such issues would be resolved. /7
So it is right that D. Raab has said that EU citizens would not be "turfed out" (though the language is hardly appropriate), but that is not the point. For EU27 citizens, Brexit affects so many aspects of things in life everyone worries about (job, family, finances, future). /8
No wonder it is no comfort to EU27 citizens in the UK (and v v) that so often the response is "you'll be fine, you'll be allowed to stay". UK citizens should be horrified by the way 3 million friends, neighbours, colleagues who have made their home here have been treated. /END
@sturdyAlex of interest?
