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If there’s a no deal Brexit, border controls will be introduced to make it harder for criminals to enter the UK. New border controls that will make it harder for serious criminals to enter the UK will be introduced in the event of a no deal Brexit, the government has announced today (4 September). In a move signalling the end of free movement in its current form, a tougher UK criminality threshold for EEA citizens will be applied in order to keep out and deport those who commit crimes. The changes will be introduced alongside a new European Temporary Leave to Remain scheme (Euro TLR) for EEA and Swiss citizens and their close family members. Citizens of those states moving to the UK after we have left the EU and up until the end of 2020 will be able to obtain a temporary immigration status lasting 3 years. This will give businesses certainty that they will be able to recruit and retain staff after Brexit. Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “On 31 October, we will leave the EU come what may. Introducing tougher checks and ending free movement as it currently stands will allow us to take the first, historic steps towards taking back control of our borders. In the future, we will introduce a new points-based immigration system built around the skills and talent people have – not where they are from.”   Further measures to be introduced after 31 October 2019 include: removing the blue EU customs channel, requiring all travellers to make customs declarations by choosing the red or green channel introducing blue UK passports later this year removing the rights to permanent residence under retained EU law for those who arrive after Brexit   After 31 October 2019, EU citizens will still be able to come to the UK for visits or short trips. They will be able to apply for Euro TLR if they wish to stay beyond 31 December 2020. Applications for the scheme will open after the UK leaves the EU and will involve a simple online process and identity, security and criminality checks. EU citizens will receive a digital status lasting three years entitling them to work and rent property during this period. EU citizens wishing to stay on in the UK after their temporary status expires will need to make a further application under the new points-based immigration system. Employers and landlords will not be required to distinguish between EU citizens who arrived before and after exit until the future immigration system is introduced from 2021. For EU citizens who are living in the UK by 31 October 2019 and their families, they have until at least 31 December 2020 to make an application to the EU Settlement Scheme. On 15 August, the Home Office confirmed that over 1 million people had been granted status through the Scheme. There is a wide range of support available over the phone, email and in-person, including a dedicated Settlement Resolution Centre, to help people to apply. Published 4 September 2019 From: Home Office and UK Visas and Immigration https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-announces-immigration-plans-for-no-deal-brexit

EU leaders and the UK have approved an agreement which provides for the terms of Brexit. It is a significant moment in European history – the EU’s 28 leaders have approved the “divorce” agreement for the UK to withdraw from the bloc. No member state has ever left the European Union before and this summit – two years and five months after the UK’s Brexit referendum – is a culmination of months of tough negotiation. But is this really the end? BBC News has made an article finally understand all you need to know about the UK leaving the EU: 8 key questions. What are they agreeing on? There are two documents. The withdrawal agreement The so-called divorce part: a 585-page internationally binding legal text that sets out the terms of how the UK leaves the EU on 29 March 2019. Importantly it also provides for a transition period which begins the same day Britain leaves and lasts until 31 December 2020, although it could be extended to the end of 2022. And it has a “backstop”, an arrangement that says if the UK hasn’t negotiated a new relationship with the EU by the end of the transition it will stay in the bloc’s customs union, to prevent the need for a border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. The political declaration This is the roadmap for the relationship between the UK and EU after Brexit. Much shorter at 26 pages, and not legally binding, the declaration calls for an “ambitious, broad, deep and flexible partnership across trade and economic co-operation, law enforcement and criminal justice, foreign policy, security and defence and wider areas of co-operation”. It is long on aspiration but very short on detail. Why is this important for Theresa May? Apart from the obvious – getting agreement on the two documents – for Theresa May this is all about momentum. She is hoping that the weight of approval by the EU27, including such big names as German’s Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, will convince British politicians this is a very big deal indeed, of international proportions. When will we know if she is successful? It’s thought the big vote in the UK Parliament could come sometime in the second week of December. The numbers don’t look good for Theresa May, do they? It was US President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ), who said the first rule of politics was to be able to count. Although there are 650 MPs, for various reasons some of them, like the Speaker, don’t vote, so the magic number for victory for Mrs May is 320. But there are only 315 Conservative MPs and the BBC estimates nearly 60 hardline Brexiteers in the party and 14 Remainers are likely to vote against. She also appears to have lost the support of the 10 MPs from the Northern Ireland party she relies on for big votes, the DUP. And of course all the opposition parties have said they will vote against it. What are those alternatives if the deal is voted down? No-one knows for sure, but here are some of the options: She tries again a few weeks later, hoping MPs will be so worried about the expected turmoil in the financial markets after a no vote that they change their minds The UK leaves without a deal, which most believe would be catastrophic A second referendum, which many MPs fear would make Britain even more divided than it is already Theresa May or another Conservative leader could try for a different deal Another general election. What are those alternatives if the deal is voted down? No-one knows for sure, but here are some of the options: She tries again a few weeks later, hoping MPs will be so worried about the expected turmoil in the financial markets after a no vote that they change their minds The UK leaves without a deal, which most believe would be catastrophic A second referendum, which many MPs fear would make Britain even more divided than it is already Theresa May or another Conservative leader could try for a different deal Another general election. A health warning on such predictions: it’s important to say that if UK politics are already in uncharted waters, a no vote could send them off the navigational map altogether.