Brexit minister: Some EU migrants may have to leave UK
LONDON — Exposing the uncertainties unleashed by Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, the U.K. minister in charge of negotiating the divorce said Sunday that most EU citizens in Britain when it leaves the bloc will be able to stay — but some might have to leave.
Brexit Secretary David Davis dismissed suggestions that the estimated 3 million EU nationals now living in Britain might be forced to leave, telling Sky News that “I want to see a generous settlement for the people here already. They didn’t seek this circumstance — we did.”
But he said if a surge of new immigrants trying to “beat the deadline” floods into Britain before it leaves the EU, the Conservative government may have to set a cutoff date.
“We may have to say that the right to indefinite leave to remain protection only applies before a certain date,” Davis said in a separate interview with the Mail on Sunday newspaper. “You have to make those judgments on reality, not speculation.”