Thursday 21 June 2018
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said:
“There are approximately one million EU citizens living in London. They are part of the fabric of this city – working hard, paying taxes and playing a major role in our civic and cultural life. Their rights need to be protected and so do the rights of the British citizens living across the continent.
“It is absolutely vital that the Government guarantees that any new registration system for these Londoners – and the more than two million EU citizens living outside the capital – is simple, quick and easily accessible.
“The Windrush scandal has shown also how important it is that the rights of EU citizens are protected by an independent and properly resourced authority with the powers to truly hold the Government to account. Relying on existing structures isn’t good enough.
“Without this commitment EU citizens risk being subject to the Government’s discriminatory hostile environment, preventing them from working, renting and accessing essential services.
“It is disappointing that the Government has not used today as an opportunity to show EU nationals living in the UK goodwill by making this process free of charge to people resident in our country. At the very least, those who moved here before the referendum took place shouldn’t be expected to pay to stay.
“To make the process as easy as possible for EU nationals living in London, I will shortly be launching a new online portal so that European Londoners can access the information they need to stay in the UK after Brexit.”