Boris Johson told EU citizens living in the UK that post-Brexit, “your rights will be protected whatever happens”.
Appearing to contradict Theresa May’s refusal to guarantee the rights of EU citizens in the UK, the foreign secretary made the promises at the Belvedere Forum on UK-Polish relations.
“We have 30,000 businesses in this country that are Polish. We have 1 million Poles in Britain,” the foreign secretary said in a video that was posted by the embassy on its Twitter feed.
“We are thoroughly blessed, we are lucky. And I have only one message for you all tonight: you are loved, you are welcome, your rights will be protected whatever happens. Yes. You are recording this? Your rights will be protected whatever happens.”
Johnson has continually promised to protect the rights of EU citizens, which was an important premise of his Brexit campaign. This was not the position held by the government following Theresa May’s position of Prime Minister.
Speaking to MPs earlier that evening, Johnson said that a deal on EU citizens has not yet been clarified.
The foreign secretary said it was “up to our friends and partners in the EU now to look seriously at the offer we are making and, particularly on citizens, to make progress”.
“Everybody wants to make progress, everybody wants to give the 3.2 million EU citizens in this country the maximum possible reassurance and security. That can only happen once our friends and partners decide to get serious in these negotiations,” he said in the House of Commons.
The lack of clarity surrounding the rights of EU citizens has been a great cause for concern. Theresa May said to EU citizens in a letter last week:
“I want to give reassurance that this issue remains a priority, that we are united on the key principles, and that the focus over the weeks to come will be delivering an agreement that works for people here in the UK, and people in the EU.”