‘Withdraw’ from EU pilot scheme, say campaigners

An anti-Brexit campaign group, Liverpool for Europe (LfE), has urged the city to ‘withdraw’ from its participation in live trials of the government’s EU Settlement Scheme after claims of ‘discrimination’ and ‘distress’.

LfE aims to make the government rethink the UK’s exit from Europe. While the majority of constituents in Liverpool voted Remain in 2016, much of the North West, where the pilot is taking place, voted Leave.

EU nationals who work for various NHS trusts in the region and those at three Liverpool universities, have been taking part in a test to assess how easy it will be to register for ‘settled’ or ‘pre-settled’ status prior to the system’s nationwide launch.

But LfE alleges that, contrary to government reports:

‘Some of the institutions’ staff and students only found out about the planned collaboration with the trial from the media and that neither they, nor their representative trade unions, were informed beforehand.

‘We also note that this has caused distress for students, employees and their families.’

At least 10,000 EU workers have already left the NHS in the two years since the referendum and there is still a shortage of many medical professionals within the system. LfE believes that the 12 NHS Trusts whose employees are applying for their immigration status post-Brexit are promoting ‘discrimination’ and helping to create a ‘misleading impression of the practictability of the scheme’.

LfE is calling for full public disclosure of how well or badly the test has been conducted, and is asking the organisations involved to ‘reconsider their decision to collaborate’ and to ‘withdraw’ from this process.

Immigration minister Caroline Nokes said last month that the pilot was to ‘help us ensure the system will be ready when the rollout begins later this year.’