The reciprocal right of free movement within the European Union has been enjoyed by millions of British nationals who have been able to live or settle elsewhere in Europe and by all those who have chosen to make the UK their home. Workers have been protected because no worker has depended on their employer for their rights. And obstacles to integration and settlement have been removed altogether. The system has worked because it has removed red tape and is embedded in principles of trust and opportunity.
As Freedom of Movement comes to an end, the government has placed the burden on European nationals to register for Settled Status, rather than automatically guaranteeing it. This will almost certainly result in hundreds of thousands of them becoming undocumented and losing their right to work, to access medical treatment or to live with their families and being criminalised as overstayers.
We owe it to our nearly four million European friends, neighbours, partners and colleagues to e…