[rhys91]

I'd like to disagree. I work in advertising in London and about 50% of people I work with are from the EU. They're annoyed that they are being used as a bargaining chip for EU discussions. Many of my colleagues are already discussing / planning moving to Amsterdam, Berlin or Madrid. London is expensive enough to live in as it is, now no one feels welcome. And that's just advertising, then there's the NHS.

[agd]

I don't really understand the 'bargaining chip statement'. The UK government has said publicly, privately, and repeatedly that it would like an agreement on EU citizens' rights ASAP and could do it before article 50. The EU rejected this. In addition, no EU country has unilaterally offered British citizens abroad rights. So the UK has not acted worse in this regard than any other EU country. And it has acted better than those that rejected a deal on this earlier than article 50 (i.e. Germany).

[gambiting]

Ok, look. I'm a Polish citizen living in the UK. I don't have any interest living anywhere else, this is my home, I don't like Poland, I don't want to move back there, I don't want to have anything to do with their government or their ideas.

I pay my taxes in the UK - hence, I want the UK government to guarantee my rights to stay here, to openly say that yes, my work here is appreciated and will be protected.

I do not agree with the sentiment that UK should wait until EU guarantees the same thing for UK citizens - because that's exactly what's turning me into a bargaining chip.

Either I am welcome here, or I am not - it cannot be a conditional thing.

My other concern is that the Polish government has repeatedly expressed hopes that all Poles would come back and work in their home country - so there is a real concern they will be dicks when it comes to offering rights to UK citizens, in hope that UK retaliates and doesn't give Poles in the UK rights to stay.

[agd]

I totally understand. But there's also a british person living in Poland saying the complete opposite. I.e. don't guarantee them rights and leave me to the whims of the Polish government!

The government has to look after both groups.

[abritinthebay]

Yes, and the way to do that is to not Brexit but that ship appears to have sailed.

[rhys91]

The current government shot down an amendment to the Brexit bill that would have guaranteed the rights of EU nationals currently in the UK. I don't think the onus is on the EU at this point to protect UK citizens. No discussions can be made until Article 50 has been triggered.

Also, you need to take anything the UK government says with a grain of salt. Once upon a time, what looked like a promise to invest 350M into the NHS after Brexit appeared to be nothing but a political ploy.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/sep/10/brexit-camp...

[agd]

> I don't think the onus is on the EU at this point to protect UK citizens.

Why not? Why do people expect the UK to act unilaterally but not EU countries? It's a double-standard.

> Also, you need to take anything the UK government says with a grain of salt.

I do. None of the EU leaders (or foreign press) has contested the UK's accounting of this. i.e. the UK has tried to have this sorted before article 50, but elements of the EU said no.

[Oletros]

> Why not? Why do people expect the UK to act unilaterally but not EU countries? It's a double-standard.

No, it is not a double standard. The UK is the one that will trigger unilaterally the Article 50 and they want the cake and eat it.

> None of the EU leaders (or foreign press) has contested the UK's accounting of this

Why they should? They are not the ones leaving the EU