1 June 2021

As we enter the final month for EU citizens to claim settled status the Green Party is warning that many EU citizens may end up without secure residence status.

Former MEP Molly Scott Cato said:

‘As an MEP I met many people who have lived in our community for 40 or more years, spent their working lives here, and raised their families here. Many simply take it for granted that they have the right to stay in the communities where they have spent their lives and do not realise that they need to go through a bureaucratic process to guarantee that right.

‘While the publication by the Home Office of Reasonable Grounds to have delayed application to the scheme is welcome, the creation of a hostile environment for EU citizens through aggressive treatment at the border is likely to undermine their confidence that they will receive a fair hearing.

‘The Home Office must step up its information campaign actively encouraging EU citizens to apply for the settled status scheme, especially after refusing to extend the deadline despite Covid making it harder for some people to apply. At a local level, each council should appoint a councillor to take responsibility for the rights of EU citizens resident in the UK, just like Greens have done in Brighton and Hove. And EU citizens’ demand for a paper document to prove their immigration status should be urgently responded to.

Dr Scott Cato concluded:

‘The combination of an underpowered advertising campaign and increased and aggressive checks on EU travellers ahead of the deadline has created unnecessary anxiety amongst EU citizens permanently resident in the UK. The government has failed in its duty to protect these people who have given our country so much.’

Notes:
The form to claim settled status can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families/applying-for-settled-status

Further information about claiming status can be found from the charity Settled: https://settled.org.uk/en/

And EU citizens can find further support from campaign group The Three Million: https://www.the3million.org.uk/rights-are-changing

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26 May 2021

• Jonathan Bartley: “Without full accountability, this government will continue to mislead and attempt to spin its way out of taking responsibility”

The Green Party has reiterated its call for a full public and judge-led inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic to begin immediately [1] following the evidence given by Dominic Cummings to MPs today [Wednesday 26 May].

The Prime Minister’s former chief adviser revealed a catalogue of failings in the UK government’s response to Covid-19 which led to the avoidable deaths of tens of thousands of people when he appeared before the health and science joint committee today.

Green Party co-leader Jonathan Bartley said:

“The evidence provided by Boris Johnson’s former chief advisor has shocked and saddened many of us in equal measure. 

“From describing a government that simply had no plan, to accusing a Secretary of State of lying, public trust has been seriously undermined by how badly the Government has mismanaged the pandemic and the thousands of avoidable deaths this has caused.

“It is vital that a full public and judge-led inquiry starts immediately to discover exactly what went wrong, ensure that such mistakes are not repeated again and begin to restore public trust.

“Without full accountability, this government will continue to mislead and attempt to spin its way out of taking responsibility. Everybody suffers as this government attempts to gaslight us all over its failings during the pandemic.

“From repeatedly underestimating the impact of the virus, to spending billions on a failed test and trace system, the repeated failings are clear despite attempts to mislead the House and the public by a number of cabinet ministers.

“It will take generations for us to come to terms with what has happened since the beginning of last year, but a full public inquiry could provide the first steps for many to be able to do that.”

ENDS

Notes

            1

https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2021/03/23/greens-call-for-inquiry-into-government%E2%80%99s-handling-of-covid-19,-one-year-on-from-start-of-lockdown/

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26 May 2021

• Jonathan Bartley: “Without full accountability, this government will continue to mislead and attempt to spin its way out of taking responsibility”

The Green Party has reiterated its call for a full public and judge-led inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic to begin immediately [1] following the evidence given by Dominic Cummings to MPs today [Wednesday 26 May].

The Prime Minister’s former chief adviser revealed a catalogue of failings in the UK government’s response to Covid-19 which led to the avoidable deaths of tens of thousands of people when he appeared before the health and science joint committee today.

Green Party co-leader Jonathan Bartley said:

“The evidence provided by Boris Johnson’s former chief advisor has shocked and saddened many of us in equal measure. 

“From describing a government that simply had no plan, to accusing a Secretary of State of lying, public trust has been seriously undermined by how badly the Government has mismanaged the pandemic and the thousands of avoidable deaths this has caused.

“It is vital that a full public and judge-led inquiry starts immediately to discover exactly what went wrong, ensure that such mistakes are not repeated again and begin to restore public trust.

“Without full accountability, this government will continue to mislead and attempt to spin its way out of taking responsibility. Everybody suffers as this government attempts to gaslight us all over its failings during the pandemic.

“From repeatedly underestimating the impact of the virus, to spending billions on a failed test and trace system, the repeated failings are clear despite attempts to mislead the House and the public by a number of cabinet ministers.

“It will take generations for us to come to terms with what has happened since the beginning of last year, but a full public inquiry could provide the first steps for many to be able to do that.”

ENDS

Notes

            1

https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2021/03/23/greens-call-for-inquiry-into-government%E2%80%99s-handling-of-covid-19,-one-year-on-from-start-of-lockdown/

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24 May 2021

• Jonathan Bartley: “While most people want to see compassion and common sense applied at our borders, it is harder and harder for people to find legitimate routes to claim legal asylum in Britain”

In response to Home Secretary Priti Patel’s keynote speech on immigration today [1], Green Party co-leader Jonathan Bartley said:

“With every week that goes by, Priti Patel’s twisted immigration policy hits new lows. While most people want to see compassion and common sense applied at our borders, it is harder and harder for people to find legitimate routes to claim legal asylum in Britain. The only winners are the traffickers and smugglers who profit from the misery we create.

“This brutal and heartless agenda is completely at odds with public opinion. When thousands of neighbours stood together to prevent an immigration raid in Glasgow, we saw what the British public really thinks. We won’t stand for a border regime which drags people from their homes, locks them up with no reason and turns people away when they need our help. 

“It’s time to end the hostile environment, provide safe routes for refugees, and put the smugglers and traffickers out of business for good.”

ENDS

Notes

1

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/patel-uk-immigration-system-reform-speech-b1852475.html

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17 May 2021

• Jonathan Bartley: “It is time for us to end our complicity in Israeli repression in the occupied territories and Gaza and to end all sales of arms and related equipment to Israel by companies based in the UK”

The Green Party has written to the Foreign Secretary to urge the UK government to end the sales of arms to Israel by UK companies and officially recognise the state of Palestine in the wake of an alarming escalation of violence in the region.

In a letter to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Green Party co-leader Jonathan Bartley has expressed the Green Party’s deep concern with the loss of life in Israel and Palestine and urged the Foreign Office to issue much stronger and even-handed condemnation of those provoking violence. [1]

The letter cites figures from the Campaign Against Arms Trade which shows the UK has licensed £400 million worth of arms to Israel since 2015 and that some of these arms exported from the UK have previously been implicated in previous atrocities against Palestine. [2]

In the letter, Bartley also cites a 2018 Early Day Motion, signed by 73 cross-party MPs, which notes that licences had been granted in the previous two years to export arms to Israel, despite the fact that the consolidated criteria on arms exports precludes this “where there is a risk that items must be used for internal repression or in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law and considering the need not to affect adversely regional stability in any significant way.” [3]

Bartley said:

“The recent escalation of violence in Israel and Palestine has once again shocked the world and we urge the UK government to do whatever it can to actively support de-escalation. The seriousness of the situation demands more than words.

“The most important action the government could take right now is to immediately put a stop to the sale of arms to Israel from UK companies.

“Hundreds of millions of pounds’ worth of arms have been sold to Israel since 2015. These may have been used to cause suffering and misery and have served no purpose at all in achieving peace in the region.

“It is time for us to end our complicity in Israel repression in the occupied territories in Palestine and to end all sales of arms and related equipment to Israel by companies based in the UK.”

ENDS

Notes

1

The full letter can be read here

2

https://caat.org.uk/news/caat-call-for-uk-to-end-arms-sales-and-military-support-for-israeli-forces-following-gaza-killings-and-storming-of-al-aqsa-mosque/

3

https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/51776/uk-arms-exports-to-israel

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