Conservative MEP reveals that EU free movement into the UK may continue after 2019

With the likelihood of Britain opting for a transitional period with the EU, a Conservative Member European Parliament Ashely Fox has predicted that EU migrants could still be permitted to move freely into Britain with full rights after 2019 when negotiation is expected to end.

On the other hand, it was agreed that freedom of movement would at last come to an end due to the PM’s determination to have a clean break from the EU.

Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “It is likely we will have an implantation phase.

“The Prime Minister has said we will recover control of our own borders. That means an end to the freedom of movement.

“But, whether that occurs in two years or three years, I think is a matter of negotiation and I trust the Prime Minister’s judgement when it comes to negotiating the terms of that settlement.”

Mr Fox’s remarks reverberate those made by the Prime Minister, who risked a hostile response on Monday after declining to rule out free movement during an “implementation phase”.

Speaking to journalists during her Brexit tour of the Middle East, the Prime Minister said: “Once we’ve got the deal, once we’ve agreed what the new relationship will be for the future, it will be necessary for there to be a period of time when businesses and governments are adjusting systems and so forth, depending on the nature of the deal.”

Any transitional deal is expected to least until at least 2022.

The latest attempt not to cut-off free movement faster is also likely to anger Leave voters, who campaigned vigourously to take back control of immigration in Britain.

Paul Nuttall, the leader of Ukip, said the Prime Minister’s current decision not to specify an end date “sets alarm bells ringing”.

He said: “By voting to leave the EU, the British people asked the government to reduce the high levels of immigration that see a city the size of Hull and Newcastle come to the UK each year.

“The fact that the Tories won’t even specify how long the period of open-door immigration will continue after we have left the EU sets alarm bells ringing.”