In an attempt
to move things along in the Brexit talks, the UK Government has been hinting
that it is ready to make new ‘concessions’ in relation to the rights of EU
citizens. The problem the government
face is that, all these so-called ‘concessions’ still involve taking rights away
from EU citizens legally resident in the UK.
And anything which reduces their rights is still going to be a hard sell
to the EU27. What would move things
along, of course, would be a simple and clear guarantee that all rights which
exist in respect of EU citizens living in the UK on exit day will be fully
protected.
It’s simple and
straightforward, and would undoubtedly satisfy the EU 27 on that aspect of
negotiations. So why can’t they do
it? One simple reason – because EU citizens
currently enjoy more rights in some areas than UK citizens, and we can’t have
that can we? Now I’m a simple soul, and
prone to an over-mathematical perspective on issues, but it strikes me that if
you have two groups of people with unequal rights, taking rights away from one
group isn’t the only way of achieving equality.
To put it another way, all that the government has to do is to give UK
citizens the same rights as EU citizens currently enjoy, and one third of the
problems with the current stage of negotiations would disappear overnight.
It tells us a
great deal about those who govern us, and their attitude towards the rights of
individuals and families, that they would sooner let the whole process collapse
than do that. And it’s not only in relation
to Brexit that people and their families come pretty near the bottom of their list
of priorities.
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