By Ben Kerrigan-
She said that all EU nationals living in the UK lawfully for at least five years will be granted “settled status” and be able to bring over spouses and children.
Those who come after an as-yet-agreed cut-off point will be given two years to “regularise their status”.
Jeremy Corbyn said the offer was “not generous” and “too little, too late”.
Labour said the UK should have made a unilateral guarantee of security to EU citizens in the aftermath of last year’s Brexit vote.
She told the Commons that she wanted to give reassurance and certainty to the 3.2 million EU citizens in the UK. May described them as an i ntegral part of the economic and cultural fabric” of the UK.
However, May pointed out that any deal on their future legal status and rights must be reciprocal and also give certainty to the 1.2 million British expats living on the continent after the UK leaves the EU – expected to be on 29 March 2019. Under the plans, those EU nationals can apply for temporray residence after a ”grace period;; of about two years. They can apply for settled status after 5 years of living in the UK. They will be entitled to benefits including pensions, welfare, and health care. May said the application process would be simplified and a “light touch” approach adopted, in contrast with the exisiting long process of application. EU nationals will also be able to bring family members living abroad to the UK, like spouses and children.
The plans are outlined in a 15 page document that articulates the prime minister’s offer to EU ciitizens. However, the UK prime minister, as usual, insisted that the move is reciprocated for British expats living abroad. The implication is that if for any reason her move is not reciprocated, they would become null and void. Labour has criticised the offer and not generous, and too little too late. That’s an expected stance from the opposition party, but it would be stupid not to have such an offer reciprocated for the sake of fairness. As a metter of fact, the offer benefits EU citizens in the UK more than it does British expats abroad, because there are more EU citizens in Brtain than there are expats abroad. The minds and anxiety of EU nationals in Britain should indeed be at rest because they should expect the same treatment to be returned to British expats living abroad.
May has long been under pressure to guarantee a settled status for EU nationals living in the UK, but always wanted to ensure a fair deal than benefits both party equally. A unilateral offer of residence permit has always been the foolish route for a leader nt in tch with the real world they are a part of. No such trust should be given to the EU, whose leaders have acted like bulies in the negotiations. A high percentage of brits wanted Britain to remain in the EU, for economic reasons but have had to accept the Brexit outcomes. EU leaders don’t seem to be able to accept the Brexit outcome, and have frustrated talks at every stage . Whether the minds of EU citizens are put to rest given the announcement is yet to be seen, the 15 page documents will be closely scrutinised by many of them. On the face of it, the del seems reasonable and fair, but may still lead to further details.