Gavin Newlands MP joins EU nationals’ mass lobby in Parliament

Gavin Newlands, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, has attended a mass lobby of the UK Parliament to demand that the UK Government guarantees the residency status and rights of the 3.3 million EU nationals living and working in the UK.

The UK Government has repeatedly refused to provide this guarantee in the nine months since the EU referendum, and earlier this month Tory MPs voted down an amendment to the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill that would have ensured the residency status of EU nationals after the UK leaves the EU.

An estimated 181,000 EU nationals are resident in Scotland, including 900 living in Paisley and Renfrewshire North.

Gavin Newlands, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, said:

“The UK Government’s continued refusal to guarantee the rights and residency status to the 3.3 million EU nationals living and working in the UK is a downright disgrace and they should be ashamed of themselves.

“This also affects 900 EU nationals living in my constituency. EU nationals who live, work, and study in the UK make a huge and valued contribution that benefits the whole country. These people are our family, neighbours, friends and colleagues and they’re living in the unknown about what their future holds for them.

“This level of uncertainty is unhealthy and completed unacceptable. I was delighted to join this mass lobby in Parliament to once against demand that the UK Government guarantees the residency status and rights of those EU-born nationals who have made the UK their home."