Government avoids answering Lords Committee's questions on rights of EU citizens

A number of the concerns raised by the Committee have been ignored entirely, and others have received an incomplete answer, despite reassurances from the former Minister of State Brandon Lewis MP that many of these issues would be resolved in early 2018.

The Committee is especially concerned by the comment that Caroline Nokes MP expects “the vast majority of cases to be granted”, and has responded that this falls some way short of promising that there will be a legal presumption in favour of granting settled status to all those EU nationals in the UK prior to the ‘specified date'.

Chairman of the Committee Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws said:

 “We are disappointed to have received such an underwhelming response from the Government on such a vital issue causing distress and uncertainty to so many.

“We have asked the Government to respond to our list of outstanding issues within 10 working days, and look forward to them providing this much needed clarity.”

The House of Lords EU Justice Sub-Committee's response and list of outstanding issues can be found here.

The letter to the Committee from Minister of State for Immigration Caroline Nokes MP can be found here.