Lords say UK needs to do more on Britons rights

The Lords’ EU Committee, after a hearing with British in Europe’s deputy chairman, wrote to the Brexit minister (tinyurl.com/rvzctfz) saying:

• The government should commit to uprating pensions of UK nationals in the EU as long as they continue to live there;
• It should continue to fund healthcare for those it is liable for until any new arrangements are made replacing this (as a minimum to the end of 2020);
• Britons who wish to or need to return to the UK at any time in the future should be able to do so, along with any non-British family members, under the same conditions as now;
• Arrangements for British student fees and student finance for British people who live in the EU at the time of Brexit should continue for 15 years. The latter was suggested in the hearing as a compromise, allowing most young people from British families living in other EU countries who have been expecting to go to a British university to do so as planned.

The committee also raised concerns about the impact if Britons are unable in future to aggregate social security contributions made in a number of different EU states, which could reduce people’s pension rights.

MP Sir Roger Gale, who has also been pressing the government to make stronger pledges, said it has reassured him that Britons in the EU before the end of the transition would be protected in the case of a deal.

However, he will “return to the fray” after the election, if re-elected, he said.

France’s Europe Minister said a no-deal exit is still a risk because, in her view, the January 31 deadline is non-negotiable and the Brexit deal will not be reopened again.