Why is the EU settlement scheme not working for everyone?

Analysis: Many EU nationals are simply being left to fall through the cracks, May Bulman writes

Getting their voices heard: demonstrators campaign for the rights of EU citizens in the UK (AFP/Getty)

It is a struggle to be heard above the Brexit turmoil at the moment. Shock resignations and drastic ministerial announcements in parliament are dominating the news agenda, making it difficult to shift attention to anything else.

One group that does seem to be doing well at shouting about their Brexit concerns is EU nationals. Criticism of the EU settlement scheme has been hitting the headlines in recent weeks, with a stream of newspaper articles highlighting cases where often highly educated and successful UK residents have been wrongly denied settled status, prompting outrage.

Rightly so. It can be easily argued that it isn’t fair for someone who has been legally resident in Britain for many years to have to apply to obtain immigration status at all – let alone be wrongly denied it.