Three million EU migrants in UK 'should keep child benefits' - Brexit department

[dutchman]

Ministers are considering whether to allow European Union migrants who are in Britain to continue to receive child benefits to send to families back home.



The Sunday Times said ministers on the Cabinet's Brexit committee had been sent a document by the Department for Exiting the European Union, recommending that around three million EU migrants in the UK when the Prime Minister triggers Article 50 keep their welfare rights.

Those who arrive after Wednesday will not keep the benefits, but ministers have been warned that any attempt to withdraw them from those already here would risk Brussels taking tit-for-tat action to restrict health and pension rights of British expats in the EU, the newspaper said.

Any move to maintain child benefits as they are currently would risk breaking the Tories' 2015 general election manifesto pledge to restrict tax credits and child benefits to EU migrants who have been in the country for four years.

The report comes just weeks after the

Tories were forced to U-turn on Budget plans to increase national insurancerates for the self-employed because they broke a manifesto promise.

Mrs May has said resolving the rights of EU nationals in the UK and British expats in Europe will be one of her early priorities in negotiations.

But European Commission chief negotiator Michel Barnier warned last week it could take "several months" before their post-Brexit settlement rights can be guaranteed.

A government spokeswoman said: "This is speculation and we do not comment on leaks from Cabinet.

"We have said we want to secure the rights of EU nationals already in the UK, and UK nationals in the EU.

"But no decisions of the kind speculated about here have been taken.

"We are clear that when the UK leaves the EU, it will make its own decisions about immigration."

[Melisandre]

Will the EU do the same for the British living in their countries .