1/ Brexit has finally broken my mum
2/ My mum is one those pesky EU27 types. She came to the UK in the sixties before the UK was part of the EEC. She came to learn English for a year. She fell in love with my dad and stayed
3/ In the late sixties she was given indefinite leave to remain by way of a stamp in her old passport meaning she could stay.
4/ For those who like details she worked for 35 years or so in the U.K paying her taxes.
5/ To this day the number of days spent in hospital, number of pounds claimed in benefits and number of crimes committed by her all stand at zero
6/ While she worked and brought up her two British kids she also found time, on a voluntary basis, to be a Parish councillor for 7 years
7/ When she retired she volunteered at local schools to help kids with their reading
8/ A few years ago my dad became mentally ill. He ended up killing him self on an NHS ward at about 12 noon. How that happened, who knows
9/ I love the NHS - it has saved my life twice but on that occasion it failed my dad
10/ The NHS came to my mum' she house to tell her the grim news. Tactfully they brought a long a "risk manager" because they feared a legal action
11/ My mum's response was to say she would not sue the NHS - it saved me and if it was struggling for funds why take away money which won't bring my dad back but may mean someone else loses medical support?
12/ My mum is not perfect but by most standards she is a pretty amazing person
13/ She has watched Brexit unfold and has remained certain she would be fine after all she has indefinite leave to remain
14/ My mum has watched in increasing horror as people with PR have been sent deportation letters and more and more stories emerge of people in the U.K. who thought they would be ok being asked to leave
15/ To reassure her we wrote to her MP who told her to apply for settled status. This tweet is longer than his email
16/ We wrote to @DExEUgov but they said "it is not our responsibility"
17/ We wrote to the Home Office to ask if the ILR in her old passport was still good evidence. In fact we wrote several times in 2017 and 2018. We never even got an acknowledgment
18/ The Government boast about securing rights for EU27 citizens when all they have done is ensure they have to apply for a new status
19/ And now if you have ILR they are saying you can apply for settled status if you wish to prove you benefit from the withdrawal agreement gov.uk/guidance/statu…
20/ Why would you have to do that or even think of it if on the same page it says ILR is unaffected?
21/ My mum is well over 75 and she does not like where this is heading
22/ My mum has no desire to be detained at an airport or be denied medical treatment because she has the *wrong* papers. She probably won't but she is old and she worries
23/ There will be people who tell her don't worry you will be fine and it can't happen to you. But it could. You see stories like that with increasing regularity.
24/ So my mum has taken the decision to return to the country of her birth. She has lived in the UK longer than the UK has been in the EU. She has no relatives in the country of her birth
25/ I have tried to talk her out of it. But how can I reassure her when all the evidence proves she is right to be worried
26/ So she is giving seeing her grandkids and her children because she does not feel safe here. I am distraught but I do not blame her
27/ So even if Brexit is mitigated or stopped it won't fix my family.
28/ And so an elderly woman who contributed to this country for years, who had no vote, feels her safest solution is to start her life again in a country that is in fact no longer home. Good luck mum.
