EU citizens, particularly the vulnerable, shouldn’t be overlooked in post-Brexit Britain

Overall, the government has made a good start in how it manages the status of EU citizens in the UK, but the game is only at half-time, writes Charles Kinnoull

Pro-EU protesters in a March for Europe rally in central London (PA)

Mahatma Gandhi famously said that a society can be judged on how it treats its most vulnerable members, and so it should be for Britain’s post-Brexit settlement scheme for EU citizens who live and work here.

Early on in the post-referendum Brexit negotiations, both sides were keen to stress they wanted to protect the rights of each other’s citizens already resident within their jurisdiction. During the referendum campaign itself, Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Priti Patel issued a joint statement saying EU citizens would “automatically be granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK and will be treated no less favourably than they are at present."

When the UK unveiled its system, requiring EU citizens to apply for settled or pre-settled status by the of 30 June 2021, the earliest possible under the withdrawal agreement, there was considerable concern that many might miss the boat or be let down by delays in the system.