May
faces likely defeat in Lords over rights of EU citizens
Peers
support Labour amendment to Brexit bill to protect European residents
in UK after article 50 is triggered
Anushka Asthana,
Heather Stewart and Peter Walker
Wednesday 1 March
2017 07.35 GMT
The Conservative
government is likely to be defeated in the House of Lords over the
issue of securing the rights of EU citizens living in the UK, despite
a last minute plea from the home secretary, Amber Rudd.
Peers are lining up
to support a Labour party amendment – which now has the formal
backing of a Conservative, a Liberal Democrat and a crossbencher –
calling on ministers to bring forward proposals to protect Europeans
resident in Britain within three months of article 50 being
triggered.
Losing a vote during
the committee stage in the House of Lords means the Brexit bill will
have to enter a so-called ping pong between the Houses of Commons and
Lords, delaying its passage into law by at least one week.
Rudd sent a letter
to peers on Tuesday in an effort to persuade peers not to vote
against the government, insisting that there was no question of
treating European citizens with “anything other than the utmost
respect”.
She said that their
status would be the top priority once negotiations were underway but
argued that the government could not act unilaterally over the issue
because it would risk the status of British people living across the
continent.
“They could end up
facing two years of uncertainty if any urgency to resolve their
status were removed by the UK making a one-sided guarantee,” she
said. Rudd argued that the hold-up was because a few EU countries,
including Germany, had insisted that they would not negotiate
anything linked to Brexit until article 50 had been triggered.
Her letter suggests
that the government is not prepared to strike a compromise with peers
by setting out a formal promise to bring forward plans within three
months, with sources saying they are keen for the Brexit bill to be
passed without any amendments.
She also made clear
that there would be a separate opportunity to debate and vote on the
future immigration system put forward by the government when
legislation is laid down in the future.
Labour’s leader in
the Lords, Lady Smith, called Rudd’s message “deeply
disappointing” and said it had paved the way for a government
defeat over the issue.
“To continue to
use people as bargaining chips in this way is not only shameful but
could have a dire impact on the UK’s economy and essential
services,” she said.
“Confirming the
rights of those EU citizens living in the UK can only be of benefit
to our citizens worried about their future in EU countries but the
government’s approach seems to be to sit back and wait for others
to blink first.”
The Labour amendment
calls for EU citizens and family members legally resident in Britain
by the time the Brexit bill is passed – in mid March – to be
treated in the same way after Brexit as they are now.
A Labour Lords
source said it was highly unusual for peers to force a vote on
legislation at this stage, as usually they would hope to keep
pressing the government for further concessions.
“A committee stage
vote in the Lords is as rare as a white rhino,” he said, but added
that it was inevitable “because it is clear that we have exhausted
the deliberation and dialogue with the government and we would be
wasting our time to have the debate again at report stage. This needs
to go back to the Commons to be debated”.
Other issues to be
discussed on Wednesday – including the question of a meaningful
vote on the final Brexit deal – are likely to only come to a vote
next week.
The Brexit bill’s
first stumbling block comes as David Davis told cabinet ministers
they must be prepared for the possibility of Britain leaving the EU
without a trade agreement in place. The prime minister’s spokesman
said the Brexit secretary had made clear to colleagues that they must
“prepare not just for a negotiated settlement but the unlikely
scenario where no mutually satisfactory agreement can be reached”.
The foreign
secretary, Boris Johnson, also spoke at the event claiming he was fed
up with people “droning and moaning” about the risks of Brexit.
The foreign
secretary did not name Sir John Major, but made clear that the former
prime minister was among those who had been warning that “the sky
was about to fall in”.
“And I feel like
saying: ‘Come off it, sunshine.’ Every generation hears its
prognostications of gloom. And look at us today. We are living longer
than ever before. We are healthier than ever before,” he said.
Earlier, former
chancellor George Osborne issued a stark warning to May about the
risks of leaving the European Union without a trade deal,. He said:
“Let’s make sure that we go on doing trade with our biggest
export market, otherwise withdrawing from the single market will be
the biggest act of protectionism in British history.”
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