Laurence Dollimore
HUNDREDS of thousands of Brits living in Spain could sue the UK in the event of a no-deal Brexit, a leading Conservative MP has claimed.
In a warning, the Tory MP for South Leicestershire, Alberto Costa, said the next prime minister faces ‘an enormous unprecedented amount of legal action’ if the rights of EU citizens residing in Britain are not protected within legislation before October 31.
But Costa also warned that British expats living in Europe could be unfairly penalised if the next leader fails to secure their rights too.
Brits living abroad would have a strong case to sue, Costa warned, if they unfairly lose their rights to pensions, healthcare and long-term residency.
In a missive to the next PM, which will be decided today, Costa wrote: “No peacetime British government has ever abrogated the rights enjoyed by over a million of its own citizens overnight.
“As a former UK government lawyer I can reasonably foresee an enormous unprecedented amount of litigation raised by British citizens.
“This would undoubtedly result in a severe challenge to the stability of your government.”
It comes after Costa met with the EU’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier last week in a bid to guarantee citizens’ rights.
He led an emergency task force of cross-party MPs who were warned that Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement was the best way to guarantee to rights of citizens affected by Brexit.
Barnier said it will be up to individual countries to decide what rights its UK residents will be allowed to keep in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
Officially, at least 1 million Brits live across Europe.
What a Fake News Story!
The Spanish Prime Minister has already promised expats rights no matter what.
I am more worried little green men from mars might invade.
Vulcanben, Obviously you don’t understand that the Spanish Government has no say in whether our pensions are to be frozen at the current level, as they are in all other 3rd Countries, that would be up to our own Government. They also have no control over whether we would be landlocked, losing our freedom of movement as 3rd Country nationals, only being able to stay in another EU Country for 90 days under the Schengen rules, because the UK is not part of Schengen. They also have no say in whether the UK will choose to honour the current reciprocal agreement to pay for Pensioner or disabled health care, again up to our own Government. Those are the reasons we could sue if there is a no deal Brexit and our current rights and benefits are taken away from us, by our own Govenment, because I don’t for 1 minute think they care or will put those securities in place for us. They are Tories, after all!
!. Pensions, of course the Uk government has the right to decide who gets what pensions abroad or at home, Labour could campaign to to double them! Tories could stop paying anyone overseas anything, except a huge number of UK voters have friends or family abroad. Why do you think anything will change? Sounds like a scare story to me “The sky could fall”.
2. Schengen Rules, do you think Spain could afford to remove your freedom of movements?
3. Reciprocal agreements, my understanding is that the UK offered to match the EU from day one, it is the EU that is using it as a bargaining tactic.
So as I said while these things COULD happen they are not likely and the article is just scaremongering.