Amber Rudd to hand out ‘green post-Brexit’ identity cards to EU citizens
Home Secretary to give new ID to the three million EU citizens already living in the UK
MORE THAN three million EU nationals living in the UK will need “documentation” once Britain completes a Brexit, Home Secretary Amber Rudd revealed yesterday.
She told the Commons yesterday that some form of ID would have to be introduced.
It fuelled fresh speculation that EU citizens will either be required to have a ‘Green Card’ or hold a biometric residence permit similar to migrants from the rest of the world.
Such a move would almost certainly mean Brits on the Continent will have to carry ID cards wherever they go as part of any Brexit divorce deal.
The Home Secretary’s comments came in response to Labour’s Hilary Benn – who asked how EU nationals already leaving here would be distinguished from those yet to arrive.
Amber Rudd said she was “aware that there is an expectation and concern” about EU citizens already in the UK.
She said: “There will be a need to have some sort of documentation but we are not going to set it out yet.
“We are going to do it in a phased approach to ensure that we use all the technology advantages that we are increasingly able to harness to ensure that all immigration is carefully handled.”
She separately fuelled yet more speculation that the Government is laying the groundwork for a ‘soft’ Brexit by saying she was aware parts of Britain’s economy were dependent on low-skilled migrants – such as farming and agriculture.
She said: “We are aware how necessary it will be to have a seasonal scheme in place and we are looking carefully at it.”
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Last week campaigners warned that the Home Office would be “inundated” with ’47 years’ worth’ of requests for permanent residency should it fail to allow EU nationals to remain.
Almost 100,000 EU citizens living in the UK have applied to the Home Office to secure their right to remain.
The clamour has sparked a huge backlog in the Government department given that it typically only processes 25,500 permanent residency applications every year.
The Home Office has yet to spell out who may have to register, but it is thought Irish citizens would be exempt.
Officials at the Office for National Statistics earlier this summer admitted they had no idea exactly how many EU nationals may be living in Britain – given that under ‘free movement’ rules they don’t have to register when they arrive in the country.
It emerged last week that Theresa May was seeking an early deal to guarantee the rights of EU migrants and British ex-pats – but it had been dismissed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.