“Can we safely say that the British government has ensured that Irish citizens would be protected from such measures? I am afraid that we cannot.”
A new report drawn up by legal experts in the United Kingdom has warned that the status of Irish citizens in the UK could be negatively affected once Brexit comes into effect.
The report was compiled on behalf of the Traveller Movement (ITM) by Doughty Street Chambers, a law firm, which, in its own words, is “renowned for and committed to defending freedom and civil liberties”.
According to The Guardian, the report refers to laws governing the status of Irish people in the United Kingdom as “patchwork” and warns that Irish citizens’ access to free NHS treatment, cash benefits and social welfare payments in the UK could be affected under a “hostile environment” policy created by current Prime Minister Theresa May when she was Home Secretary.
The warning in the report comes despite assurances offered by May to Irish citizens living in the UK earlier this year when she said that the UK would “preserve the freedoms that UK and Irish nationals currently enjoy in each others’ state”.
“And Irish citizens will not need to apply for permanent residence to protect these entitlements,” May added at the time when announcing proposals that would require EU citizens living in the UK for a period of five years or more to apply for a document to certify their “settled status”.
The author of this report, Simon Cox, believes that a lack of clarity on exactly how promises to Irish citizens will be delivered could leave them vulnerable in the political environment in the UK post-Brexit, particularly in the wake of increasing recent tensions over Ireland’s role in the Brexit negotiations.
“The British government has consistently promised that Brexit will not weaken the situation of Irish citizens in the UK, or the movement of Irish citizens to and from the UK,” Cox wrote.
“Yet it has not made public how it will deliver on this promise. A close look at current British laws shows a patchwork that may fall apart under post-Brexit political and practical pressures.”
Ahead of an amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill by Labour MP Conor McGinn MP which is due to go before parliament this week and promises to “fight against any attempts to diminish, qualify or limit existing workers’ rights, equality law, consumer rights or environmental protections”, the report has been sent to the Department for Exiting the European Union.
Included with the report sent to the department from Lord Alton of Liverpool which reads: “The paper enclosed clearly demonstrates that the rights of Irish citizens – future generations and those already living here – are currently at risk and need to be secured with urgency.”
“Can we safely say that the British government has ensured that Irish citizens would be protected from such measures? I am afraid that we cannot,” Lord Alton added.
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