Theresa May blocked post-referendum offer on EU citizens' rights, George Osborne claims
2 min read
Theresa May blocked a move from David Cameron to unilaterally guarantee the rights of citizens living in the UK after Brexit, George Osborne has sensationally claimed.
The London Evening Standard - which the former Chancellor now edits - says Mr Cameron had proposed making the offer in the immediate aftermath of the EU referendum a year ago.
According to an editorial in the paper, every member of the Cabinet agreed with the former Prime Minister - except Mrs May, who was then still Home Secretary. Mr Cameron then dropped the plan.
"Last June, in the days immediately after the referendum, David Cameron wanted to reassure EU citizens they would be allowed to stay," the article says.
"All his Cabinet agreed with that unilateral offer, except his Home Secretary, Mrs May, who insisted on blocking it."
The article also suggests May told Tory MPs she was not serious about threats to EU citizens' rights ahead of key votes on amendments to the Government's Article 50 bill.
Several Tories had initially ndicated they might support Lords amendments on the issue, but in the end just two MPs voted against their own side.
“A vote in the Commons earlier this year was only carried with a nod and a wink to Tory MPs behind the scenes that she didn’t really mean it," the editorial says.
"Since then, the Government has lost its majority and it seems likely that an opposition motion to grant EU citizens the right to remain unilaterally could be carried."
The claims emerged after EU leaders gave a cool response to Mrs May's offer on EU citizens' rights, which she made at an EU summit in Brussels last night.
The Prime Minister yesterday unveiled a “fair and serious” offer to allow some 3m EU citizens – those who have been resident in the UK for five years – to remain on the same terms they currently enjoy.
She said "settled status" would be offered to those who had been living in Britain for at least five years.
It is not yet clear when the cut-off date would be to determine who would be eligible, although the Government is expected to produce a detailed briefing paper next week.
Last month another editorial in the Evening Stanard launched a bitter attack on the Conservatives’ general election campaign for trying to create a "personality cult" around Mrs May.
The paper has also criticised the Prime Minister's decision to stick with the policy of bringing net migration down to the tens of thousands, which it claimed was opposed by every senior Cabinet minister.
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