Thread by @BritishInEurope

A #Brexit thread about our rights.....

The mayhem of the last two days and 900 days in limbo puts the problems with the UK’s paper of last week on citizens’ rights into sharp relief

bit.ly/2LiWJsT

Para 2 says this deal is the only way to protect our rights. Well, it isn’t a good deal for citizens, it doesn’t protect all our rights, or allow us to carry on living our lives as before.

But it’s better than a no deal. 2/

But let’s be serious: the draft WA doesn’t give us certainty because it isn’t legally binding and may never be! 3/

And the government’s solution to this problem is manifestly inadequate: simply calling on the EU 27 to do the right thing by UKinEU in the event of a no deal.

But there are also some worrying points of detail in that paper. 4/

What does the footnote to para 20 on pension uprating “subject to reciprocity” mean?

Is the UK going back on its promise to the 20% of us who are pensioners? 5/

What about uprating for EU citizens who earned a UK pension by working in the UK but then retired to their country of origin? This is a major problem given the numbers involved, including many Irish nationals. 6/

The very vague wording in para 23 on the right to bring non-UK family back to the UK is worrying. The UK should simply allow UK who are already in the EU to return with family without subjecting them to harsher rules retrospectively. 7/

There is similarly vague wording in paras 24 and 25 on rights to access to services and education for returning citizens.

And paragraph 28 on reciprocal arrangements falls dangerously short on aggregation of contributions. 8/

People have contributed to pensions on the basis of a clear aggregation scheme. To do anything other than simply honour that in respect of past contributions is tantamount to theft. 9/

And honestly, why is the UK govt dressing up the right to vote of returning citizens in local and national elections as a bonus? This should go without saying – once we are back in the UK we can vote again! 10/

Conclusion: while the UK cannot protect our rights in our host countries unilaterally, it can do so by inviting the EU to agree to ringfence the citizens’ rights part of the Withdrawal Agreement. 11/

(PS We note that free movement has gone out of the window in this paper and in the political declaration because ending FOM once and for all is TM’s key red line.)

END