Conduct of negotiations

Part of European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill – in the House of Commons at 4:15 pm on 8 February 2017.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Suella Fernandes Suella Fernandes Conservative, Fareham 4:15, 8 February 2017

That reflects the wisdom of the current position. We must safeguard the rights of UK nationals abroad before making any move on this issue.

I was involved, with Ms Stuart and Kate Green, in a cross-party study with the think-tank British Future. We made suggestions to the Government on how to regularise and deal practically with the legal position of the 3.5 million EU nationals in this country. There will be issues for the Government to deal with. For example, what should the cut-off date be? Our report recommended that the date after which the new rules should apply be the date when article 50 is triggered, at which point a legitimate expectation will have arisen in respect of new arrivals to the country. We felt that that struck the right balance between fairness and pragmatism.

We also recommended that EU nationals who already qualified for permanent residency by virtue of their five years’ residency in the UK be offered permanent residency under the current rules, and that EU nationals who did not meet the five-year criterion be granted a transitional period, in accordance with the old rules. Again, that would safeguard their legitimate expectation. We also made recommendations on the practical ways in which the Home Office could deal with the considerable number of applications and the paperwork. Home Office officials will have over 1 million cases to deal with, so we recommend that the local authority nationality checking services be given first-line responsibility for processing and approving applications for permanent residency.

I shall conclude—[Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!”]—as hon. Members will be pleased to hear. The majority of constituents in Fareham voted to leave the EU. They chose to do that because they wanted to re-empower themselves, free up our country and take back control. These amendments are an attempt to pull the wool over their eyes and fob off Parliament. They aim only to delay and frustrate, and I will have nothing to do with them; it would be an insult to my voters in Fareham and to the British people, and a dereliction of my duty as a representative in this place, if I did.