British PM Reportedly Overrules Home Office on Transitional EU Migrants

British Prime Minister Theresa May has reportedly gone against the advice of the UK Home Office over its concerns about refusing EU migrants to Britain during the Brexit transition period the same status as those already resident. The Home Office, of which the PM used to be the head, believes that it will not be able to cope with the strain of setting up parallel immigration systems as Britain leaves the bloc, according to the Press Association.

Under pressure from Brussels, Mrs. May has previously promised that the status of the over three million European Union citizens already living in Britain would be protected following Brexit. Since then however, pressure has escalated from the more hardline elements of the Tory party represented by the likes of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox who fear the Government may soften its resolve to leave all EU institutions including the Customs Union and Single Market, which require it to allow freedom of movement to remain a member.

On February 8, internal EU memos were leaked to the media detailing the various ways in which Brussels thought it could punish the UK if it considered that Britain was not abiding by the terms of any transitional arrangement, during which it intends for freedom of movement to be upheld by the British government. Among the most severe sanctions the Union believes it could impose would be to close British access to the Single Market, membership of which the British political establishment has not yet decided whether it wants to retain.