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MPs vote against protecting the EU right to live and work in the UK

'The status of millions of our fellow workers, friends and neighbours is uncertain. That is simply not good enough,' says SNP Justice and Home Affairs spokesperson Joanna Cherry

Matt Payton
Friday 21 October 2016 13:35 BST
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Demonstrators on an anti-Brexit March for Europe hold EU flags as they march to Parliament Square in central London
Demonstrators on an anti-Brexit March for Europe hold EU flags as they march to Parliament Square in central London (Getty)

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The House of Commons has voted down a motion to protect the rights of EU nationals to live and work in the UK after Brexit.

MPs voted 293 to 250 against the non-binding early day motion put forward by the Scottish National Party (SNP) Justice and Home Affairs spokesperson Joanna Cherry.

Ms Cherry's motion read as follows: "That this House recognises the contribution that nationals from other countries in the EU have made to the UK; and calls on the Government to ensure that all nationals from other countries in the EU who have made the UK their home retain their current rights, including the rights to live and work in the UK, should the UK exit the EU."

Theresa May hints that Brexit negotiations will go past 2019

Ms Cherry told the Commons: "It is nearly four months since the EU referendum, and the long-term status of non-UK EU nationals living in the United Kingdom is still unclear, just as the Government are still without a plan or a negotiating strategy for the Brexit that they accidentally delivered.

"The status of millions of our fellow workers, friends and neighbours is uncertain. That is simply not good enough.

"In the meantime, in England and Wales hate crime has soared and xenophobic rhetoric is common in the mainstream media and, sadly, sometimes in the mouths of Ministers."

Minister for Immigration Robert Goodwill responded to the SNP spokeswoman by stating the government aspires to protect the interests of EU citizens living in the UK.

He told the House: "My job this afternoon is to reassure the House of our aspirations to protect the interests of EU citizens living in the UK and to counter some of the scaremongering that we have just heard."

Mr Goodwill criticised Ms Cherry's motion for stating "should the UK exit the EU" instead of "when the UK exit the UK". He reiterated the Prime Minister's pledge "that Brexit means Brexit".

Following the Brexit vote, there was a surge in UK citizens seeking applying for citizenship in EU member states such as Italy, Sweden, Denmark and Ireland.

Here is the list of MPs who voted against the motion:

Adams, Nigel

Afriyie, Adam

Aldous, Peter

Allan, Lucy

Allen, Heidi

Amess, Sir David

Andrew, Stuart

Ansell, Caroline

Argar, Edward

Atkins, Victoria

Baker, Steve

Baldwin, Harriett

Barclay, Stephen

Baron, John

Barwell, Gavin

Bebb, Guto

Bellingham, Sir Henry

Benyon, Richard

Beresford, Sir Paul

Berry, Jake

Berry, James

Bingham, Andrew

Blackman, Bob

Blackwood, Nicola

Boles, Nick

Bone, Peter

Borwick, Victoria

Bottomley, Sir Peter

Bradley, Karen

Brady, Graham

Brazier, Julian

Bridgen, Andrew

Brine, Steve

Brokenshire, James

Bruce, Fiona

Buckland, Robert

Burns, Conor

Burns, Sir Simon

Burrowes, Mr David

Carmichael, Neil

Cartlidge, James

Cash, Sir William

Caulfield, Maria

Chalk, Alex

Chishti, Rehman

Chope, Christopher

Churchill, Jo

Cleverly, James

Clifton-Brown, Geoffrey

Coffey, Dr Thérèse

Collins, Damian

Colvile, Oliver

Cox, Geoffrey

Crabb, Stephen

Crouch, Tracey

Davies, Chris

Davies, David T. C.

Davies, Glyn

Davies, Dr James

Davies, Mims

Davies, Philip

Davis, David

Dinenage, Caroline

Djanogly, Jonathan

Donaldson, Sir Jeffrey

Donelan, Michelle

Double, Steve

Dowden, Oliver

Doyle-Price, Jackie

Drax, Richard

Drummond, Flick

Duddridge, James

Duncan Smith, Iain

Dunne, Philip

Ellis, Michael

Ellison, Jane

Ellwood, Tobias

Elphicke, Charlie

Evans, Graham

Evans, Nigel

Evennett, David

Fabricant, Michael

Fallon, Sir Michael

Fernandes, Suella

Field, Mark

Foster, Kevin

Fox, Dr Liam

Francois, Mark

Frazer, Lucy

Freeman, George

Freer, Mike

Fuller, Richard

Fysh, Marcus

Gale, Sir Roger

Garnier, Sir Edward

Garnier, Mark

Gauke, David

Ghani, Nusrat

Gibb, Nick

Gillan, Cheryl

Glen, John

Goodwill, Robert

Gove, Michael

Graham, Richard

Grant, Helen

Grayling, Chris

Green, Chris

Green, Damian

Grieve, Dominic

Griffiths, Andrew

Gummer, Ben

Gyimah, Sam

Halfon, Robert

Hall, Luke

Hammond, Philip

Hammond, Stephen

Hancock, Matt

Hands, Greg

Harper, Mark

Harris, Rebecca

Hart, Simon

Haselhurst, Sir Alan

Heald, Sir Oliver

Heappey, James

Heaton-Jones, Peter

Henderson, Gordon

Herbert, Nick

Hoare, Simon

Hollingbery, George

Hollinrake, Kevin

Hollobone, Philip

Hopkins, Kris

Howarth, Sir Gerald

Howell, John

Howlett, Ben

Huddleston, Nigel

Hunt, Jeremy

Jackson, Stewart

James, Margot

Javid, Sajid

Jayawardena, Ranil

Jenkin, Bernard

Jenkyns, Andrea

Jenrick, Robert

Johnson, Boris

Johnson, Gareth

Johnson, Joseph

Jones, Andrew

Jones, David

Jones, Marcus

Kennedy, Seema

Kirby, Simon

Knight, Sir Greg

Knight, Julian

Kwarteng, Kwasi

Lancaster, Mark

Latham, Pauline

Leadsom, Andrea

Lee, Dr Phillip

Lefroy, Jeremy

Leigh, Sir Edward

Leslie, Charlotte

Letwin, Sir Oliver

Lewis, Brandon

Lewis, Dr Julian

Lidington, David

Lilley, Peter

Lopresti, Jack

Lord, Jonathan

Loughton, Tim

Mackinlay, Craig

Mackintosh, David

Mak, Alan

Mann, Scott

May, Theresa

Maynard, Paul

McCartney, Karl

McLoughlin, Sir Patrick

McPartland, Stephen

Menzies, Mark

Mercer, Johnny

Merriman, Huw

Metcalfe, Stephen

Miller, Maria

Milling, Amanda

Mills, Nigel

Milton, Anne

Mitchell, Andrew

Mordaunt, Penny

Morris, Anne Marie

Morris, David

Morris, James

Morton, Wendy

Mowat, David

Mundell, David

Murray, Sheryll

Murrison, Dr Andrew

Neill, Robert

Newton, Sarah

Nokes, Caroline

Norman, Jesse

Nuttall, David

Offord, Dr Matthew

Opperman, Guy

Paisley, Ian

Parish, Neil

Paterson, Owen

Pawsey, Mark

Penning, Mike

Penrose, John

Percy, Andrew

Perry, Claire

Philp, Chris

Pickles, Sir Eric

Poulter, Dr Daniel

Pow, Rebecca

Prentis, Victoria

Prisk, Mark

Pritchard, Mark

Pursglove, Tom

Quin, Jeremy

Quince, Will

Redwood, John

Rees-Mogg, Jacob

Robertson, Laurence

Robinson, Gavin

Robinson, Mary

Rosindell, Andrew

Rudd, Amber

Rutley, David

Sandbach, Antoinette

Scully, Paul

Selous, Andrew

Shannon, Jim

Shapps, Grant

Sharma, Alok

Shelbrooke, Alec

Simpson, Keith

Skidmore, Chris

Smith, Henry

Smith, Julian

Soames, Sir Nicholas

Solloway, Amanda

Spelman, Dame Caroline

Spencer, Mark

Stephenson, Andrew

Stevenson, John

Stewart, Bob

Stewart, Iain

Stewart, Rory

Streeter, Mr Gary

Stride, Mel

Stuart, Graham

Sturdy, Julian

Sunak, Rishi

Swayne, Sir Desmond

Swire, Sir Hugo

Syms, Robert

Thomas, Derek

Throup, Maggie

Timpson, Edward

Tolhurst, Kelly

Tomlinson, Justin

Tomlinson, Michael

Tracey, Craig

Tredinnick, David

Trevelyan, Anne-Marie

Truss, Elizabeth

Turner, Andrew

Tyrie, Andrew

Vaizey, Edward

Vara, Shailesh

Vickers, Martin

Villiers, Theresa

Walker, Charles

Walker, Robin

Wallace, Ben

Warburton, David

Warman, Matt

Wharton, James

Whately, Helen

Wheeler, Heather

White, Chris

Whittaker, Craig

Whittingdale, John

Wiggin, Bill

Williams, Craig

Williamson, Gavin

Wilson, Rob

Wilson, Sammy

Wood, Mike

Wragg, William

Wright, Jeremy

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