British expat group publishes alternative white paper on government Brexit negotiations

A BRITISH expat coalition group has published an alternative Brexit white paper.

The 53-point charter has been drawn up by expat groups from across Europe, including Bremain In Spain and EuroCitizens.

The paper,  ‘UK Citizens in Europe – Towards an Alternative White Paper’ calls on the government to protect expats’ rights once Britain leaves the EU.

White paper author Jane Morgan said: “Our paper shows that the complex position of individuals who have moved to another EU country.

“It is clear that unless all rights are preserved, many people will have no choice but to give up their homes and their lives and return to their country of origin.”

The alternative white paper urges the goverment to:

• spell out the most serious of the many concerns now facing those who have in the past transformed their lives and those of their families in reliance on their rights as EU citizens
• preserve all the pre-Brexit rights of all those UK citizens living in the EU, and of all those EU citizens living in the UK, would be preserved
• stress that simply confirming a right of residence is not enough, as the EU citizenship rights that these citizens have had whilst the UK was in the EU are indivisible and they need the full
• complex of rights in order to remain in the country where they currently reside
• endorse the view of a House of Lords Committee that these indivisible pre-Brexit rights can only properly be protected by being expressly included in the Article 50 withdrawal agreement

Co-writer Jeremy Golding said:“Following the Supreme Court ruling, UK MPs have both the opportunity and the clear responsibility to make approval of the bill to trigger Article 50 conditional on safeguarding the rights and livelihoods of over a million UK citizens living in Europe (as well as around 3 million EU citizens in the UK).

“This should happen at the earliest opportunity.”