Brexit bill to be defeated by Lords over EU nationals' rights

The House of Lords is set to give the Government its first defeat on the Article 50 Brexit bill on the issue of protecting the rights of EU nationals.

In a rare move, a vote will be pushed in the current Committee stage of the Article 50 bill, this afternoon.

It is already backed by Labour, LibDem, cross-bench and several rebel Conservative peers, and Parliamentary sources expect the amendment to pass easily.

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The original plan had been to push the votes next week, as is more usual, at the Report stage, but peers believe that the Government has given little time for debate at that stage, and showed no sign of giving any concessions on the issue over the weekend.

The issue will test the Government and require a new Commons vote on an issue that saw three MPs - Ken Clarke, Andrew Tyrie and Tania Mathias rebel against the Government whip in similar votes earlier this month.

Many other Conservative MPs were talked away from signing up to the Commons amendment by a letter from Home Secretary Amber Rudd promising maintenance of rights for EU citizens in the Great Repeal Bill and a separate Parliamentary vote on Britain's post-Brexit migration system.

There have also been widespread lobbies of Parliament by a wide range of EU citizens who say they are already feeling the impact of uncertainty around their status.

Tens of thousands have taken matters into their own hands, applying for permanent residence under an EU law provision which guarantees it after five years.

Some have had to produce reams of documentation dating back years to prove their residence.

Sabine von Toerne, a midwife who came to the UK from Germany seven years ago, has found that her years training in the NHS means she retrospectively needs to prove she has been covered by comprehensive health insurance.

She did not need this at the time and, in fact, such policies were very rare.

She came to Parliament last week and told Sky News: "It does make you feel like a second class citizen, to be honest.

"Slightly unwanted.

"The problem is uncertainty.

"There are a lot of people.

"It's difficult to plan.

"We've heard about people who are applying for jobs and are disadvantaged because they don't know if they are going to be able to stay or not."

Experts estimate around 2.7 of the 3.5 million EU nationals in the UK already have a broad right to permanent residence, having lived in the UK for five years.

But new figures show that since Brexit 18,500 applications have been refused - with applications up seven-fold to 32,481 and refusals up five-fold on last year to 8,618 in the final three months of 2016.

New figures released last week, analysed by the University of Oxford's Migration Observatory suggest there are 85,242 EU citizens in a backlog of applications for both permanent residence and certificates proving current residence.

The Government has vowed to resist any Lords amendments and said the issue of reciprocal rights is one of its top priorities in Brexit negotiations.

Privately, some in the Government blame larger EU countries, such as Germany, for rebuffing an offer to settle the issue early in the process.

Rebel peers told Sky News that they needed to "put down a marker, and it's just conceivable they might rethink".

"We've no confidence they will deal with the issue early - EU negotiators won't do an early deal... as our argument is totally implausible - it's 'Do what I want or I'll shoot my own foot off'."