British expats Brexit group to give evidence at Westminster

A British expat delegation is taking its Brexit battle to the heart of Westminster.

The five-strong group will give evidence before the Exiting EU Committee, chaired by Labour MP Hilary Benn, on January 18.

Madrid-based Guardian journalist Giles Tremlett could be the group’s representative from Spain.

Tremlett, author of the book Ghosts Of Spain told the Olive Press he believed current EU and British expats should retain their existing rights.

“We need the people who are discussing this in Westminster to start thinking about the one million Brits who are most affected by Brexit,” said Tremlett.

“The main fear is that the whole process will take so long that we will all live in a state of limbo for two, three, four, five years.

“We would be unable to make decisions about such basic things as where to live, how to organise one’s life etc when you don’t know what your rights are going to be.”

He added: “I don’t think the people who are in place – the three million Europeans in Britain and the million Brits in the EU – should be treated as if they are ‘new’ under the Brexit proposals.

“The three million should hold onto their rights in the UK and the one million should hold on to our rights in Europe.

“We are just being used as a bargaining tool. If that is going to be the approach the three million and the million must stand together.”

Tremett said the group hopes to form a European umbrella coalition to fight for British expats’ rights in the coming months and years.

Last year Tremlett and fellow British expat journalist William Chislett started a petition calling for joint citizenship for Brits who had lived in Spain for over 15 years.

“The idea is to take it to the 17 regional parliaments this year,” he said.

“We’ve had reasonably good feedback from Spanish politicians. We know there are a lot of people who want it.”