Pro-Brexit MP defends voting against safeguarding EU citizens' rights after calling for them to be protected

Gisela Stuart defended her decision saying the vote was not the time to deal with the issue

Gisela Stuart was the most high-profile Labour MP on the Vote Leave campaign (Getty)

A prominent pro-Brexit MP has defended her decision to vote against a proposed amendment to the Government's Article 50 bill that would have guaranteed the rights of EU citizens, despite previously saying that they had been “left in limbo”.

Gisela Stuart was one of five Labour rebels to vote against the amendment which would have allowed EU Nationals to remain in the country after Brexit.

After last year's referendum, the Birmingham MP, who was one of the most high profile Labour voices on the Vote Leave campaign, said the Government should “take the initiative” and say it would protect the rights of those who already live in the UK.

In an apparent attempt to counter the uncertainty Labour’s Harriet Harman tabled an amendment to the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill.

It proposed that all EU citizens legally living in the UK on June 23 - the date of the EU referendum - would have their right to stay protected.

But Ms Stuart, who was born in Germany but holds British citizenship, defended her decision to vote against the amendment saying it was “not the bill” to deal with these issues.

She told The Independent: “This was not the Bill to deal with this, that is why I voted against all amendments. Last night was about implementing the referendum decision”.

She said Prime Minister Theresa May had given her assurances to the House regarding the status of EU citizens and she planned to hold her “to her word”.

A campaign set up to help EU nationals already living and working in the UK, the3million, has also urged Ms May to clear up the uncertainty before she officially triggers Article 50 at the end of March.

In a statement, which was issued hours after Ms May ruled out guaranteeing their rights in her Brexit speech last month, the group said: “It is extremely disappointing that the Prime Minister has not used this speech as an opportunity to unilaterally guarantee that all European citizens or those living in the UK under the protection of EU treaty rights will have the right to remain here after Brexit.

“All EU citizens resident in Britain should get a firm assurance in law that they will be able to continue living in the UK, with exactly the same rights of residence as they have now.”

Nearly one million EU citizens have applied for permanent residency in the UK since the vote prompting fears that they would be at risk of deportation as 30 per cent were unable to fulfill the “unrealistic” standards of evidence required by the Home Office to prove their right to reside, the3million said.