The Reader: EU citizens living in Britain need more than Javid’s promise

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Rights: EU citizens will have to pay to stay in the UK after Brexit
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27 June 2018
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AHEAD of the second anniversary of the EU referendum, the Home Office has come up with some answers for EU citizens such as me who are worried about their future status [“£200 to secure residence for EU families post-Brexit”, June 21]. The announcement was meant to reassure us. While we welcome more clarity, this isn’t enough.

There is much at stake. If people get rejected in error or miss the deadline, the consequences could be disastrous: their bank accounts would be frozen, they would lose the right to work or access healthcare. It is a huge project to register 3.6 million people and they will need more support than an app or a helpline. More importantly, we need to turn these promises into lasting guarantees. Home Secretary Sajid Javid has given his word that we will be “fine”.

We now need legal guarantees for our lifetimes. The Government seems to think it can achieve this through Home Office regulations but these can be changed at any time, without scrutiny or parliamentary involvement. What guarantee do EU citizens in the UK have that these rules won’t simply be scrapped or amended in future? We need our rights to be enshrined in law, not just in Home Office regulations. We want to avoid another Windrush scandal.
Maike Bohn
the3million

EDITOR'S REPLY

Dear Maike

You are right in saying things can change. The EU referendum itself shows how quickly something taken for granted comes back into question. So how do we bind the present to the future?

One of the few good things to come out of the Windrush row is that the Home Office must understand the point of long-term record-keeping, and that the scandal should not be forgotten. Those now registering for settled status should also deploy history and refer back to the Home Secretary’s mantra — that this process is “looking to grant, not for reasons to refuse” — when faced with the bureaucratic red tape. We, the media, will play a part in making sure that the principle is upheld.

I’m interested in your call for parliamentary legislation — a cynic would say even that is not necessarily binding. But it is still a campaign to pursue. Put it in the Withdrawal Treaty and it then becomes an international obligation, enforceable in court.

Joy Lo Dico, Executive Editor, Projects

Don’t invite Trump to the UK while he persecutes refugees

WE CALL on the Government to withdraw its invitation to President Trump to visit the UK. He should not be given respectability while his government terrorises those fleeing persecution. The trauma experienced by children in detention centres is not unlike that faced by those living through humanitarian crises in the countries where ActionAid works. Mr Trump’s policy also means the US is now refusing asylum to women fleeing domestic violence.

Mr Trump’s so-called ‘zero tolerance policy’ is also now refusing asylum to women fleeing domestic violence. For many, this means they are forced to live with their abuser – possibly facing death. In extreme cases, they even face being killed by an agent of the US Government, as happened to Claudia Patricia Gomez Gonzales from Guatemala. We should give no honour to any person who punishes children because their parents want to give them a better life. We urge all governments to abide by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to show compassion for those asylum seekers and to prevent violence against women and children. Readers can sign the peition here: https://bit.ly/2KbO4qS
Girish Menon, ActionAid UK; Sarah Green, End Violence Against Women Coalition; Sam Smethers, Fawcett Society; Bee Rowlatt, Mary on the Green campaign; Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, Akeela Ahmed, Rachel Krengel, Huda Jawad, Women's March London; Fenella Dawnay, Processions 2018; Eleri Butler, Welsh Women's Aid; Samantha Bond, Morven Christie, Jason Isaacs, Paloma Faith, Fay Ripley, Sienna Guillory, Rupert Graves, Miriam Margolyes, Samantha Morton, Wunmi Mosaku, James Purefoy, Andrea Riseborough, Imelda Staunton, Samuel West, and 4,500 members of the public

VAR is making the World Cup fairer

WHILE undoubtedly intrusive and stopping the flow of “the beautiful game” overall, the VAR decisions at the World Cup have been largely beneficial and correct. However, there have been a number of times when it has been used to justify a clearly wrong decision.

The incident involving Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal elbowing an Iranian opponent was referred to VAR but there was a lot of play-acting by the Iranian players, and niggling of Ronaldo throughout the match. Ronaldo was wrong to have reacted but in fact the incident was started by an Iranian player. The correct outcome should have been that both players received a yellow card, not just Ronaldo. Certainly goal-line technology and VAR can make games fairer and aid the referee but they must be used properly.
Claude Keith

Heathrow traffic is already terrible

PAUL Deighton might like to think “Heathrow Airport has a strong record in encouraging sustainable transport” and that “the number of passengers travelling to the airport in private cars has fallen by a third” [“Our MPs must put the country first and back a third Heathrow runway,” June 25] but from where I see it this doesn’t ring true.

In the area right next to Heathrow bus services have been cut or reduced to one an hour. As a result the roads are crowded with minicabs and Ubers as most passengers have no other way of accessing the airport.
Robert Evans

CAN Lord Deighton sit in his garden without the noise of aircraft drowning out conversation? There are many communities more badly affected than mine, and I don’t want mine to be any worse than it is now.
Beryl Wall

Energy drinks are bad for your teeth

YOUR article [“High-carb diets are rotting your teeth, top athletes warned”, June 21] serves as a reminder to cyclists of the potential damage carbohydrate gels and energy drinks are doing to their teeth. This is long-term harm that can’t be easily spotted straight away.

Quenching your thirst by sipping on energy drinks for long periods amounts to constantly bathing your teeth in sugar. The sugar-free varieties are just as damaging because these drinks are also mildly acidic, which over time can strip the enamel of your teeth. This erosion makes teeth vulnerable to decay.

Avoid the energy drinks and drink water to stay hydrated —and consider more complex carbohydrates to sustain your energy levels.
Professor Damien Walmsley
Scientific adviser, British Dental Association

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