Letters: EU citizens who have already settled in Britain must be made to feel welcome

SIR – Leaving the European Union will bring many changes, most likely including changes to immigration and free movement rules.

The three million EU citizens who have made the UK their home and the 1.2 million British citizens living in other EU countries are concerned. The PM’s statement that there would be “no immediate changes” to their status will not have been reassuring.

This is also a major concern for many UK companies and public services employing EU citizens, who do not want retrospective disruption to their workforce at a time of uncertainty.

We would like to call on the Government, the opposition parties and any candidate for the post of the next Conservative Party leader – and therefore Prime Minister – to make an unequivocal statement that EU migrants currently living in the UK are welcome here and that changes would only apply to new migrants. With the official Vote Leave campaign, a clear commitment to protecting the status of EU migrants has been made – and it must be respected.

By adopting this policy, the UK is in a strong position to seek a mutual commitment from other EU members that EU citizens in the UK and British nationals in other EU countries should continue to be able to live and work in those countries. We believe there are fundamental, practical and legal reasons why this would be the only sensible and decent policy. The research also shows a strong consensus among Remain and Leave voters supporting this approach.

It would also send a clear message to the extreme minority – who seem to think they have a license to attack and harass migrants – that the British public find their views repugnant and unwelcome in our society.

Daniel Hannan MEP (Con)

Gisela Stuart MP (Lab)

Douglas Carswell MP (UK)

Yvette Cooper MP (Lab)

Peter Lilley MP (Con)

Simon Walker
Director, Institute of Directors

Frances O’Grady
Secretary General, TUC

Matthew Elliott
Chief Executive, Vote Leave

JuliusDavid
CEO, techUK

Ian Wright CBE
Director General, Food and Drink Federation

Professor Sir Cary Cooper
President, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

peter cheese
Chief Executive, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

Nicola Dandridge
Chief Executive, Universities UK

Ufi Ibrahim
Executive Director, British Hospitality Association

CarolParis
Chief Executive, Horticultural Trade Association

Sam Bowman
Executive Director, Adam Smith Institute

Roland Weiss
Fellow, Adam Smith Institute

Ryan Kurzhaus
Director, Light Blue

Sunder Katwala
Director, British Future

Tom Kibasi
Director, IPPR

Alp Mehmed
Vice Chair, Migration Watch

Stephen Booth
Co-Director, Open Europe

David Guthart
policy exchange

Toby Jung

Nazek Ramadan
migrant voice

Markus Steer
New Economic Foundation

Professor Catherine Barnard
University of Cambridge

Professor Tamara Harvey
University of Sheffield

Professor Simon Hix
London School of Economics and Political Science

Professor Anand Menon
King’s College, London

Professor Steve Peers
University of Essex

Jonathan Portes
Senior Research Fellow, National Institute for Economic and Social Research

Professor Jo Shaw
Edinburgh Law School