Brexit

A Letter to Dominic Raab and Thérèse Coffey

As a recipient of a UK state pension and living in the Czech Republic, last Friday I received a letter from the British government. The letter was organised by the Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Thérèse Coffey. Below is the text of what I have written in reply, sent this afternoon by email, to both ministers.

Dear Mr Raab, Dear Ms Coffey,

On Friday 4^th December 2020, I received a letter entitled, ‘UK Transition Period: A message for UK Nationals living in the Czech Republic’. Ostensibly, it came from the British Embassy in Prague. However, as is acknowledged at the end of the letter, it was actually compiled by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) in London. Interestingly, it was posted to me from Port Louis, Mauritius – so much for the UK government’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint 🙁

At least on this occasion, the DWP managed to address me with my correct name. Just over a year ago, I received another letter from the DWP dated 7^th October 2019, assuring me that following Brexit, I would still continue to receive my UK state pension. However, that letter was addressed to Rev Warwick Panayiotou – one of about 98,000 letters that were sent out with incorrect names on them. Please note, my surname is Yates. Both that letter, and the recent one, contained the assurance that at the DWP, ‘We treat personal information carefully’. If ever there was an empty promise…..

I knew that I would receiving this latest letter because I had already seen the press release announcing that the UK government would be writing to me. Mr Raab, in that press release you are quoted as saying, ‘Protecting the rights of UK nationals living across Europe is an absolute priority for this government.’ I see you are following the example of your boss, the Prime Minister, in saying something that is a complete and utter lie!

British citizens living and working or, in my case, now retired in one of the 27 EU member states, have never been a priority for this current Conservative government or its two predecessors. Rather, we have at various times been called ‘cards’ and ‘bargaining chips’, by Conservative ministers and MPs. The only reason we have been able to retain any of our rights that the British government is happily taking away from us is because of the of the work of the ‘British in Europe’, a voluntary organisation.

The timing of this letter is a very clear indication that UK citizens living in the EU are at the bottom, and not the top, of your list of priorities. Your letter tells me about all the steps that I need to take in order to secure my future here in the Czech Republic. But when have you chosen to impart all this information? Less than four weeks before the end of the Transition Period, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic when many Czech offices are working shorter hours and with reduced capacity, and with the Christmas/New Year holidays at the end of the month.

Stating that, ‘Protecting the rights of UK nationals living across Europe is an absolute priority for this government,’ belongs in the same category as Boris Johnson’s claim to have an ‘Oven-ready deal’ for post Brexit trade with the EU, together with what was written on the side of that bus back in June 2016. They are all lies and falsehoods and you should be ashamed of peddling them.

I have already done all the things listed in your letter. But it isn’t thanks to the help and advice of the current British government, far from it.

My small act of defiance today. The EU flag is proudly flying on the front of my house © Ricky Yates

Today is a very sad day. At midnight tonight (CET), 23.00 (GMT), the United Kingdom will cease to be a member of the European Union (EU) and consequently, I will lose my EU citizenship.

All this has come about through an ill thought out referendum, held more that three and a half years ago. It was called by the then Prime Minister, David Cameron, not for the benefit of the country but to avoid a complete split in the Conservative party. In that referendum, which was only advisory, 37% of the electorate, which was then 27% of the population, voted to leave the EU. Which means that 63% of the electorate and 73% of the population did not vote to leave the EU.

The leave campaign broke electoral law, was backed by ‘funny money’ from abroad, and told lies of which this is probably the most famous example.

Those who voted ‘leave’ were predominantly elderly, white, English nationalists, believing that the England they fondly remembered from the 1950s could be recreated, along with the British Empire.

Probably about 750,000 of those people who voted ‘leave’, are now dead. Yet the views of a whole swath of young people who were not eligible to vote, but who opinion polls indicate would vote overwhelmingly ‘remain’, will have to suffer the consequences. Bungling Boris and his cronies keep telling us that ‘leave’ is the will of the people. In part, it is the will of the dead now being imposed on the living.

As far as I am concerned, major constitutional change should only take place with a super majority of at least 60%. A good example of what I mean has been well-illustrated by the Church of England where a two-thirds majority of each of the three houses that make up General Synod, had to be in favour before women could be ordained deacon, priest, and more recently, as bishops.

Three days after the June 2016 referendum, I was preaching at the monthly English-language Anglican Evening Prayer service in the Frauenkirche, Dresden, about which you can read here. It is when I am in Dresden that I am particularly reminded of why the EU, or strictly speaking its forbear, the European Economic Community (EEC), was formed. The continent of Europe had experienced two horrific world wars during the twentieth century and the desire was to prevent that ever happening again.

This poster, from the 1975 referendum campaign, which resulted in an overwhelming vote in favour of EEC membership, spells that thinking out, very clearly. Yet the supporters of Brexit, particularly the right-wing UK press, seem to think that we are still fighting the Second World War, almost 75 years since it came to an end. They use the language of WW2 saying, ‘We stood alone’, so we can do so again.

Whilst the UK may have stood alone for a short while, the only reason that WW2 was won was because of the intervention of American forces, together with Stalin’s Red Army. UK forces also benefited from many Czechs and Poles who served, particularly in the RAF. Yet it is Czechs, Poles and other EU citizens from Central and Eastern Europe who are now deemed by Brexiteers to be ‘unwanted immigrants’.

Bungling Boris’s cry is to ‘get Brexit done’. He and his supporters will be celebrating tonight. But they haven’t got ‘Brexit done’. The country now enters an eleven month transition period during which time, the UK will still be following EU rules and contributing to EU funds. In that period, there have to be negotiations to agree the future trading relationship between the UK and the EU.

The only way a trading agreement will be achieved in eleven months is if the UK agrees to abide by all current EU rules and regulations and all future ones. This will include allowing for the free movement of labour. The only difference will be that the UK will no longer have any input into the creation of those rules and regulations. It would be what is often referred to as BRINO – Brexit in name only.

Failure to agree to such a deal will lead to massive and long-lasting economic damage. You cannot cease your membership of the club and still have all the benefits of being a member.

There are no real benefits for the UK by leaving the EU – unless you think having a blue passport, produced in France, is a benefit.

President Macron & Chancellor Merkel enjoying a joke

Whilst the Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and the EU, does protect me in my current situation, at least until the end of 2020, there are still issues to be resolved, especially in the area of free movement. And I am always aware that I and every other UK citizen living within the EU, can so easily be used as pawns in future negotiations. At various times, UK government ministers have referred to us as ‘cards’ and ‘bargaining chips’.

Therefore today has been a further kick up the backside to me, to get on with my Czech citizenship application. I have been procrastinating these past months from writing my long essay about my life, travels, education, and why I want to become a Czech citizen. The first section is now written but there is still more to do before I can send it off for translation into Czech.

Living in Limbo-land

My British passport which still currently declares me to be an EU citizen © Ricky Yates

Just over two weeks ago, the UK voted by a small majority, in a non-binding referendum, to leave the European Union (EU). This result has left me, and around two million other UK citizens residing in other EU member states, living in Limbo-land, totally unsure about our future.

I have lived and worked in the Czech Republic since September 2008, on the basis of being a citizen of another EU member state. The free movement of people and labour is one of the founding principles of the EU. And as I wrote in a post earlier this year, it is my intention to retire in 2017 and live somewhere else within the EU, most likely in Spain. Now, because of the referendum, my future plans maybe completely scuppered.

There are two big questions to which I need answers. Firstly, will I as a British Citizen, be able to continue living within the EU, once the UK has made its Brexit? Secondly, what will happen to my UK state pension after Brexit? Let me explain more about each of these in turn.

The migration of many citizens from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe into the UK, and the perceived strain this has put on health, education and social services, was one of the major complaints of those arguing for people to vote ‘leave’. This despite the fact that most of these ‘immigrants’ are in employment, paying tax and national insurance, and frequently doing the jobs that British people don’t want to do. This news item that I read this morning, illustrates precisely the point I’m making.

If, as part of the UK leaving the EU, the ability of EU citizens to live and work in the UK is curtailed, the governments of the other 27 EU member states will not look kindly upon us Brits living in their countries. I would like to use the lump sum from my Church pension scheme, to purchase a small home in which to spend my retirement. But what do I then do if I’m told I cannot live their because I’m no longer an EU national?

I may have to seriously consider changing my nationality. I am given to understand, though have not yet thoroughly checked it out, that I could apply to be Czech as I’ve lived here for more than five years, and being over sixty, would not be required to pass a language test. The other alternative would be to become German because of being married to one. Sybille and I have been married to each other for nearly eleven years. Apparently, I could become German after being married to her for just three years. However, those three years of married life together, need to have been spent living in Germany 🙁 Ours have been spent in the UK and then in the Czech Republic.

Before leaving the UK in 2008, I had just completed paying sufficient National Insurance contributions to be entitled to receive the minimum UK state pension upon retirement. Since beginning work in the Czech Republic, I and the Church as my employer, have been making Czech social security payments, which means I will in due course, receive a small additional pension from the Czech state.

Under current EU regulations, those two state pensions would be combined and paid to me wherever I would be living within the EU in retirement. More importantly, that pension would be regularly uprated each year. But if Brexit happens, there is every likelihood that the UK part would be frozen and not increased in future years.

Unfortunately, nobody can provide answers to my two big questions, nor can they tell me when I might reasonably expect to receive answers. All those responsible for this mess are busy resigning. Messrs Cameron, Johnson and Farage have rightly been described as ‘rats abandoning the sinking ship’. They only concern they seem to have is for themselves. Meanwhile, I’m left living in Limbo-land 🙁