Thank you very much to those who have already so generously pledged.
A sprinkling of their comments:
"The government never responded to concerns from the Electoral Commission, improving legislation around voting will improve it for everyone not just EU citizens."
Some more supportive pledge comments:
"These are hard times, but they will get even harder if such acts of injustice go unchallenged. Go go go team #DeniedMyVote!"
"If one group is denied their democratic right it is bad for the democracy of all."
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Are you, like me, a dual national living in the UK with both British and EU passports?
I predict travelling to the EU will become much more annoying in a few years time, and that we'll be prevented from checking in online.
Unless we pay for something we don't need.
Thread 🧵
Once both the UK and the EU have introduced their travel authorisation systems, then unless airlines change their systems fundamentally I think we won’t be able to check in online for one leg of the journey.
Unless we pay extra.
Let me try to explain.
The UK intends to introduce Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETA).
It will cost £10.
Will I need one?
says I don't.
I have a British passport, and I have permission to live and work in the UK. https://t.co/0Vwf8ernYCgov.uk/guidance/elect…
The @the3million letter writing campaign to your MPs has been amazing this week! We thought the House of Lords letter writing was awesome but almost three times as many of you have written to MPs so far.
Whatever happens in the House of Commons debate (and we can take a guess, given how the Govt whips MPs to vote), the message IS getting through and MPs ARE beginning to question the digital-only status.
We are winning the argument.
One Conservative MP mentioned the standard soundbites then added "However I do understand the predicament you have that you cannot print the evidence and digital proof cannot always be accessed"
While I welcome the promises in this article towards those who don't apply for status under the EU settlement scheme, because they are considered to have a "reasonable grounds" (it mentions example of 8-yr old 'looked-after' child), I am very confused. 1/ theguardian.com/politics/2020/…
In the article, @AlbertoCostaMP says that "the minister [@kevin_j_foster] has assured parliament that EU nationals who fail to apply by the grace period deadline of 30 June will remain legally here if they have a reasonable excuse".
I would be overjoyed if that were true. 2/
After all, it is one of the problems that @the3million has been highlighting in the absence of a declaratory status. (see 'Interim Status' on page 2 of our briefing t3m.org.uk/t3m_SafeSettle…).
Amendment 3 on the Immigration Bill seeks to address this (@childrensociety) 3/
EU citizens will have to rely on a digital-only status to prove their rights after June next year.
To me, it is sheer common sense that a physical backup is needed, because digital - while lovely when it works - doesn't always work.
I've been arguing this from...
... first principles for almost two years now.
We know large computer systems often fail - in general.
But recently, the list of just Government IT failures have been staggering.
Let me list a few, then tell me that EU citizens don't need a physical backup of their status.
Let's first just look at the passage of the immigration bill through parliament. (I've chosen that bill because there's an amendment on it, to give us physical proof of status, to be debated and voted on tomorrow, Monday 5th October).
My lovely (widowed) mum lives in the Netherlands. If she needs my help in future, I want to be able to move and look after her.
If I had JUST UNTIL MARCH 2022 to be able to make that move and bring my British husband, I would be in a total panic.
Luckily, the Dutch government..
.. recognises how unfair that would be, given that I moved to the UK under EU free movement.
So they've clearly stated that I will keep that right (to bring my British husband to NL) for my lifetime.
The UK government on the other hand, is not being so kind to its own citizens.
They are ripping that right away from British citizens who, under EU free movement had legitimate expectation they could return to the UK in future with their family.
Why are they doing this?
It's genuinely beyond me. We're talking a finite group of people.