Boris Johnson is our new Prime Minister, at least for the moment. Mr Johnson’s speech today was conciliatory to members of his party, including the last Prime Minister. The speech did not contain much else, and therefore it is yet to be seen how Mr Johnson (re)negotiates the UK’s exit from the EU.
Mr Johnson reiterated his mantra of Delivering Brexit, Unite the country, Defeat Jeremy Corbyn and Energise (?), or what he calls DUDE. Unfortunately, this means the UK faces a further wait as to how he intends on implementing his policies. We, therefore, provide a recap of Mr Johnson’s policies and how it affects the future of immigration in the UK.
Brexit
Mr Johnson’s key pledge for Brexit is a ‘Brexit or no deal’ approach. He wants to renegotiate Brexit before the 31 October 2019, and if he fails, he would take the UK outside the EU without a deal. His reasoning behind this is that a further delay would lead to a ‘catastrophic loss of confidence in politics’.
The European Union, whilst open to listening to the new Prime Minister, are unwilling to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement. Although Mr Johnson is no stranger to U-turns, the threat of Brexit in the current circumstances is higher than ever.
It is however clear that Mr Johnson has an enormous task ahead of him, starting perhaps with an extraordinary meeting with the EU this week.
What can businesses do now?
We have previously covered the effect no-deal Brexit can have on the rights of EU citizens. If a no-deal Brexit happens on 31 October 2019, EU law in respect of freedom of movement ends. This means EU nationals will not be able to enter and remain in the UK in the same way as they do now.
Instead, all EU nationals who become UK residents after this date will be subject to the European Temporary Leave to Remain status, an interim 36-month status which as the name suggests will be temporary. The government has confirmed that those on this status will not be able to switch to an EU Settlement Scheme status, and further information on what will happen at the end of those 36-months has not been provided.
This means businesses may want to pull forward any recruitment plans from the EU to before 31 October 2019, if they can, so that these employees may benefit from the generous EU Settlement Scheme provisions.
For existing employees, businesses should encourage those who have not already applied under the EU Settlement Scheme to apply as soon as possible. This will prevent uncertainty.
An application under the EU Settlement Scheme is free and for most applicants, it provides a decision within a week. The application can be made using an Android App (Apple compatibility to be added in 2020).
How can we help?
At Clarkslegal LLP we are determined to help businesses in reducing uncertainty in respect of Brexit. We can provide tailor-made services to businesses in encouraging and/or assisting in existing employees to apply under the EU Settlement Scheme.
We can provide seminars, webinars or workshops to assist. We are also able to assist individual employees in respect of their application providing a complete solution, including the provision of compatible mobile phones.