Deemed leave: A concrete plan to secure EU residents’ rights post-Brexit

Article

The EU referendum result cast immediate doubt on the future status of EU nationals currently resident here; the government has made assurances that they will have the right to stay, yet very few concrete plans have been put forward. This briefing argues that granting EU nationals 'deemed leave', and streamlining the registration process, would be a practical, effective solution.

This month the prime minister will trigger article 50. For the 3 million EU nationals who are resident in Britain, that will throw the uncertainty over their future status into sharper relief. There have been rallies, Lords amendments, and countless articles written on this issue, all imploring the government to take action. Yet despite the handwringing, very few people have put forward a concrete, practical plan for how to secure EU nationals’ rights.

IPPR has been working on this issue since the referendum. In the immediate aftermath of the result, we called on the government to protect the rights of EU nationals and grant citizenship to all Europeans working in the NHS. We have also outlined how the government is, to all intents and purposes, bound to guarantee their rights eventually, as the alternatives are all either impractical or impossible.

In this briefing, we set out a straightforward and practical way for the government to resolve this issue.

Related items

  1. Who gets a good deal? Revealing public attitudes to transport in Great Britain

    Transport isn’t working. That’s the message from the British public. This is especially true if you’re on a low income, disabled or living in the countryside. The cost of living crisis has exposed the shortcomings of our transport system,…

  2. Bhargav Srinivasa Desikan on TalkTV discussing AI

    IPPR's Bhargav Srinivasa Desikan on TalkTV discussing his new report on the impact of generative AI on the UK labour market.
  3. Man using AI chatbot

    Transformed by AI: How generative artificial intelligence could affect work in the UK – and how to manage it

    Technological change is a good thing. It has brought exponential gains to living standards and is the foundation of modern society. Yet unmanaged technological change has always come with risks and disruptions.