Why Brexit really does mean Brexit: Three signs that Theresa May will get tough on EU immigration

Reading the document it is very clear that life will not continue as before, as some had hoped
Reading the document it is very clear that life will not continue as before, as some had hoped Credit: Telegraph

For much of the past year the phrase “Brexit means Brexit” has been used in different ways by the opposing sides in the debate over Britain’s departure from the EU.

For Brexiteers that phrase became a warning to ‘Remoaners’ not to water Brexit down by half-measures, while for Remainers the superficial emptiness of the words came to encapsulate their belief that the government’s Brexit plans were an empty vessel and in chaos.

However, the publication this week of the government’s offer paper on EU citizens’ rights after Brexit, provides significantly greater clarity on what Brexit will actually mean, at least for immigration.

The 12-page paper “Safeguarding the position of EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU” makes some concessions to the EU, but is shot through with the a new harder-edged immigration policy, the details of which are still to be disclosed.

Reading the document it is very clear that life will not continue as before, as some had hoped. It seems that Brexit really does mean, well, Brexit.

The end of Free Movement

The document is explicit that “free movement will end but migration between the UK and the EU will continue” but does not set out specifically what conditions those who arrive in Britain after the cut-off date will face.

However, there are some clear hints that EU nationals will not be given preferential treatment over non-EU nationals or UK nationals.

One area where this is explicit is on the rights for settled EU nationals to bring non-EU spouses into Britain in future. Currently EU nationals have a right to bring non-EU spouses to join them, but after Brexit they will be  “subject to the same rules that apply to non-EU nationals joining British citizens”.

Theresa May speaks in the House of Commons 
Theresa May speaks in the House of Commons  Credit: AFP

These are onerous and require the spouse to meet a £25,000 personal income test, do language assessments and pay into the NHS. Such rules already prevent many British-born citizens who, say, go abroad on a foreign posting, meet and marry a foreign spouse, from returning with them to the UK.

But rather than ‘level up’ to allow British and EU citizens to bring such lawful spouses back to live in Britain, the government is determined to ‘level down’. The EU will not like this position, but it is a logic extension of the Home Office’s already tough policy in this area.

Generous terms for those already here, but with limits

For the 3.2m EU citizens already here, the government has offered what it calls “generous” terms to enable them to regularise their situation in the UK - including setting out a pathway for those who have not yet completed the five years' continuous residence needed to qualify for settled status.

There will be a two-year ‘grace period’ and a ‘streamlined’ registration procedure that will actually make it much easier for those who were here before the cut-off date to ‘grandfather’ them into the UK system.

However, there are some clear nods towards the new regime to come for EU migrants - for example the stipulation that an EU resident who has been granted ‘settled status’ will lose it if they do not reside continuously in the UK for two years.

For EU residents who, perhaps, have had children in the UK, but want to go home to care for a long-term sick parent or go on an overseas work posting, such restrictions again point to the new, harder tone of the coming UK system.

Similarly, with the UK’s big ‘concession’ to the EU that it will allow EU nationals who are already collecting child benefit for children who are not living with them in the UK.

The UK has said it will allow such “exporting” of child benefit to continue, but only for those who are already doing this - for newcomers, and perhaps even for children born after the cut-off date to parents who are exporting benefits for previous children, this will not be allowed.

We will know who you are...

The hints of a harsher future immigration policy are scattered throughout the document, including the flow-diagram explaining the new system on page 13 which is colour-coded from blue, to darker blue to dark red for ‘future immigration controls’. Red is the colour of ‘stop’.

Similarly with the requirement for all of the 3.2m Europeans already in the UK to register for new documentation - including those who have already obtained permanent leave to remain after being resident for more than five years.

French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May Credit: AFP

The permits for those ‘grandfathered’ in will be used to distinguish them from those new arrivals who fall under the “different migration controls the Government may introduce with regard to newly arriving EU citizens following the UK’s departure from the EU.”

In a country like Britain, which has no national ID card system, it will be seen as a clear step to a tighter regime that the 3.2m all must have ‘documentation’ and provide biometric data - fingerprints - to be registered in the UK. Already on Twitter it is being derogatively referred to as ‘the round-up’.

It is clear that those who come after the cut-off date will be treated differently. The government gives the example of ‘Aisha the German’ who comes after the cut-off, compared to ‘Christophe the French teacher’ who comes before.

It is clear: “If Aisha wishes to stay in the UK after her temporary permission expires, she will need to obtain further permission. Her eligibility for further permission will depend on the rules in force at that time. Unlike Christophe, she is not guaranteed to be eligible to apply for permission to stay in the UK permanently.”

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