Dear Editor,
After Nigel Farage’s proposal to abolish permanent residency, Conservative MP Katie Lam has added her voice to an increasingly hard-line narrative: that Europeans with Settled Status – long-term residents of the UK – should no longer have access to state welfare. According to this view, essential services such as disability support, pensions and housing assistance should be reserved solely for British citizens.
This is not just another culture war talking point. The implications are serious. The services being targeted are not optional extras. They are fundamental pillars of a society that claims to care for its most vulnerable and calls itself a democracy. They are lifelines – particularly for the elderly, disabled and low-income residents – whose right to live in the UK was meant to be protected after Brexit.
What is being proposed here is not only morally regressive – it is also legally unsound and arguably unconstitutional.
EU citizens with Settled Status are protected under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, a binding international treaty between the United Kingdom and the European Union. Ratified by both sides, and incorporated into UK domestic law through the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020, the treaty guarantees that those who moved to the UK under free movement rules retain their rights to residence, work and equal treatment in access to healthcare, benefits, and housing.
These are not vague promises. They are codified rights, enforceable in UK courts. Any attempt to restrict access to public welfare based solely on nationality or citizenship would be a breach of international law and a violation of the UK’s own legislative commitments. It would also risk further legal challenges both domestically and from European institutions.
In short: EU citizens with Settled Status have a legal right to be here and a legal right to be treated equally.
Yet the conversation continues to ignore these facts. It also overlooks the practical and personal complexities of naturalisation. For some European nationals—such as Austrians – dual citizenship is prohibited by their home country’s laws. Others choose not to naturalise for reasons of identity, cost or family ties. In many cases, these are individuals who have lived in the UK for decades, paid taxes, raised children and contributed to local communities. British citizenship is not a prerequisite for commitment.
Consider this: what if Germany were to strip British nationals living in Berlin of their right to access public healthcare? What if Spain told British retirees they could no longer claim disability benefits or support with housing, because they aren’t Spanish citizens?
That proposals like Katie Lam’s are gaining political traction should concern all of us. Today, it is EU citizens who are targeted. Tomorrow long-term Commonwealth residents? Children of migrants? Stateless people? We’ve seen how quickly the Overton window shifts when exclusion becomes politically convenient.
We must remember that the UK has not merely tolerated migration, it has relied on it. EU citizens have helped build this country’s economy, staffed its NHS, taught its children, and cared for its elderly. They are not outsiders but integral to our national fabric.
A civilised society is not measured by how efficiently it excludes, but by how fairly it treats all those who live within it – especially in times of need. Denying welfare to taxpaying residents based on nationality is not just legally indefensible. It is ethically unsustainable.
We must hold our politicians to a higher standard. The rule of law matters. International treaties matter. And above all, people matter – regardless of where they were born.
Camilla Cucinotta
Cambridge
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