Officials slated over Europeans staying in UK after Brexit

THE Home Office has been accused of “woefully” underestimating the number of Europeans who would take up the opportunity to remain after Brexit.

- BY DAVID WILLIAMSON Chief Political Commentator

Officials “got their numbers wrong by 1.7 million people’, claims analysis by the Centre of Migration Control.

The EU Settlement Scheme was launched to provide a route for European citizens to stay in the UK after the country left the EU. A 2019 Home Office impact assessment suggested up to 4.1 million people could be eligible.

But this year the Home Office reported “just under 4.2 million applications have been granted settled status since the EUSS was launched in 2018” - and an estimated 1.6 million people held pre-settled status.

Robert Bates, research director at the CMC, said the government's assumptions were “woefully wide of the mark”.