Polish Londoner

These are the thoughts and moods of a born Londoner who is proud of his Polish roots.



Saturday 18 March 2017

Brexit storm and EU citizens




Letter to Editor of "Ealing Gazette"
from Wiktor Moszczynski, 48 Inglis Road, London W5 3RW, tel 07786471833
Dear Mr Editor,
I would like to commend the piece by Stephen Pound MP on the Brexit dilemma for EU citizens in Ealing. They came her in good faith, found work easily, especially in the boom years of the Noughties, set up families, contributed to the UK economy and to the Ealing Council tax base and play a crucial role in the vibrant cultural and commercial life of Ealing.

Currently the see saw on Brexit between the House of Lords and the House of Commons has given EU citizens the merest glimmer of hope that their contribution will be recognized and their future right to stay and work here will be guaranteed as promised initially by all the major Leave campaigners. The work by Steve, as well as his neighbour MPs, Rupa Huq, Virendra Sharma and Andrew Slaughter, to ensure the continuing rights of EU citizens, is particularly appreciated by the the Polish community in Ealing and Hammersmith, both the post-war refugees and the more recent EU arrivals.

We know that Labour MPs will vote for the amendment again to ensure EU citizens currently here can stay. This is not a vote to reverse Brexit, but to make it more palatable for British businesses, the care industry and the NHS, as they need to know the long term future of their EU employees..

However Steve's main task now is to convince previously sympathetic Tory MPs that they too must vote the Lords amendment through the Commons next week. Also he must help prepare the legislative groundwork for ensuring that local government, and not the Home Office, will handle the administrative task of registering EU citizens in the new post-Brexit Britain as otherwise the process will last many years and will be done with extreme prejudice to all EU citizens who have worked in Ealing legally for many decades and for the 4322 Polish-speaking children now in Ealing schools...
Yours faithfully

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