Pandemonium as Liberal Democrats
and their Labour counterparts at the EU parliament after they pressed on
Brussels to issue some sanctions against the United Kingdom as the country
moves to reduce migration.
Eurosceptics are now accusing the
left-wing politicians for attempting to undermine the outcome of the June 23
2016 referendum, saying Labour and Lib Dems have “learnt nothing” from the
Brexit vote by the British people.
According to Labour and Lib Dems,
the new Home Office strict policy which demands EU nationals to have enough money
to take care of themselves without depending on benefits and the NHS were done
out of discrimination.
The move they said is repugnant to
the EU treaties which guarantees freedom of movement of all member state nationals.
Lib Dem MEP Catherine Bearder said
EU migrants “pay their taxes and contribute to our society” and should have
their residency rights guaranteed by the Government.
She said: “They are not political
bargaining chips. They are real people, real lives, worried and fearful. Is
that how we should be treating people we promised we’d welcome?
“We need to protect the UK I know,
open, tolerant and united but it is for this house and its MEPs to speak for
all European citizens. The threats from Mrs May’s government must stop now no
ifs no buts.”
Also, Labour MEP Claude Moraes contributing
said: “There is compelling and building evidence since the Brexit vote that
some EU citizens in the UK are experiencing great uncertainty about their
position.
“Suspicion that far from having
their rights protected the UK has already begun to use them as bargaining
chips.
“The UK Government has a moral,
political and legal duty to protect the rights of all EU citizens.”
Green MEP Jean Lambert said: “Many
of us will welcome tonight’s vote in the House of Lords on the Article 50 bill.
They don’t want to be used as bargaining chips they feel it’s insulting and
demeaning and it is.
“[The Government] should strongly
condemn the rising racism and xenophobia we’re seeing in the UK. We really hope
the Commission will get on please and initiate the infringement proceedings on
which they’ve been hanging fire for so long.”
In addition Labour MEP Richard
Corbett added that using EU citizens as “pawns” was a “disgrace we will fight
all the way”.
On the other hand Tory MEP Anthea
McIntyre attacked Lib Dem and Labour MEPs for “political opportunism” and
“scaremongering” and said their motion would do nothing to help the EU regain
the confidence of voters across the continent.
She said: “The Prime Minister
could not have been clearer regarding the value she places on the contribution
made by EU citizens to Britain, to its economy, its society, and its culture.
“That is why securing the status
of EU nationals already residing in the UK, and UK nationals residing in the
EU, is a priority for the Prime Minister once Article 50 is triggered.
“Debates such as this do nothing
other than fuel scaremongering amongst our citizens who may already be unsettled
by the changing political landscape. The political opportunism displayed by
some here today, does little to strengthen our goals of a better Europe.”
And Ukip Home Affairs spokeswoman
Jane Collins MEP said the complaint by the liberal MEPs "shows that these
fanatical europhiles have learned nothing from Brexit and have no desire to
listen to the concerns of the people”.
She stressed that: “Net migration
into the UK is still in the hundreds of thousands yet we have MEPs calling for
the UK to face sanctions for wanting to control numbers.
"You have to ask yourself at
what point, if ever, will these eurocrats stop putting their desires for a
United States of Europe before fairness?
“I hope people in the UK see that
the Liberal Democrats have joined in this mass whinge against the UK. Not only
do they want to overturn the democratic result of the referendum they want to
attack their own people for having a different opinion to their policies.”
Ms Collins said that British
people have “voted against free movement” in last June’s referendum in part
because of the strain migration places on public services.
EU Commissioner Vera Jourova told
MEPs that eurocrats were “carefully assessing the compliance” of recent changes
to border policy brought in by Mrs May.
She added: “The EU commission will
continue to defend it as a top priority. As long as the UK remains a member
state all rights and obligations continue to apply.
“I am fully aware that EU citizens
living in the UK are concerned about their future rights. They deserve to know
what their rights will be in the UK after it leaves the EU and vice-versa the
same applies to UK citizens residing in the other 27 member states.”
In a question to the EU
Commission, which sparked the debate, the liberal MEPs wrote: “As a full member
of the EU, the UK must apply EU freedom of movement laws and it is the task of
the Commission to ensure that these rules are properly applied in all Member States.
“There has been an increasing
number of reports of the UK Home Office using restrictive interpretation of the
requirements of sufficient resources and the possession of health insurance
cover in order to restrict the rights of EU citizens in the UK.”
The debate came after Lib Dem
leader Ming Campbell told a Brexit debate in the House of Lords: “Just as
Brexit means Brexit, legally resident means legally resident.”
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