David Davis, newly appointed Brexit minister, chillin' with some of his fans (Feature Image Credit: Getty)
EU citizens who immigrate to Britain just before Brexit will be sent back home, David Davis, new minister in charge of Britain's withdrawal from the EU, has said.
Talking about the potential surge coming into the UK before we officially leave the EU, David Davis said those migrants could be returned to their home countries, denying them the chance to remain that will likely be granted to those who are already here.
Davis told The Mail On Sunday: "We may have to deal with that. There are a variety of possibilities.
"We may have to say that the right to indefinite leave to remain protection only applies before a certain date. But you have to make those judgements on reality, not speculation."
Credit: Jack Taylor/Getty Images
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The interview was his first since being appointed as Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union by new prime minister Theresa May, and he also defended using EU citizens' right to stay in Britain as a 'bargaining counter' in Brexit talks, an accusation made by Labour.
He said: "If you do it all together, nobody is a bargaining counter. It is based on the presumption that they [the EU] will be rational about their own citizens' interest, which they will be."
Meanwhile, the Huffington Post has reported that the new International Trade Secretary Liam Fox expects us to leave the EU on January 1, 2019, with countries including Canada and Australia already seeking to secure trade deals in time for this date.
He told The Sunday Times: "We can make Britain a beacon for open trade."
Figures from the Office of Nation Statistics showed that net migration into Britain hit 333,000 in 2015, with 184,000 coming from the EU.
At the moment there's no way of stopping EU immigration, as freedom of movement is a requirement of EU membership, whether we will continue to have an open borders policy after we leave is still open to negotiation.
However, a source close to new prime minister Theresa May told the Express this week that: "The clear message from the EU referendum was that people want us to get back control of our borders. Theresa is absolutely determined to do that."
So it remains likely that Britain's immigration policy will change. What do you reckon then lads? Should we keep freedom of movement or scrap it?
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Words by James Dawson
Topics: brexit