Well, that was interesting. An evening spent in the plush conference
room at the British Embassy in Warsaw, where a team led by the Deputy
Ambassador and including staff from the Embassy and relevant Polish
authorities presented what we ex-pats need to do in the event of a No
Deal Brexit.
There were I guess
getting on for 100 of us in the audience, and the conversation was at
times quite lively. We were a mixed bag too. As well as the
professionals working here for both UK and Polish companies, there
were a several people, like myself, who for a variety of reasons (and
not all of them related to romance) had made their lives and retired
in Poland, and Polish people with spouses or partners who were
British.
There were many
different stories, but the overwhelming take away was the sense of
confusion and frustration we all shared. No-one I spoke to thought
that Brexit was a good idea – reading between the lines (and
judging by some instances of rolled eyes and forced smiles) I got the
impression that the Deputy Ambassador himself was not in favour: “We
are simply here to execute our Government’s instructions” was his
best soundbite, in answer to someone about what the “benefits of
Brexit actually are” (the question was not answered).
Most people were
aggrieved at being disenfranchised for the Referendum in 2016,
because they had been in Poland for more than 7 years, and were less
than happy about the lack of information and support they had been
given at the time. I told them that I had been given a postal vote
after contacting my old constituency in England, despite having been
in Poland myself for (at that time) 15 years and urged them to do the
same now, so that at least our feelings could be expressed at the
ballot box in the next General Election or People’s Vote on any
Brexit deal (whichever comes first). It may be, of course, that my
postal vote had been awarded as a result of a clerical error – and
equally other people being excluded could have been clerical errors.
There seems to be a distinct lack of clarity around this point – as
with many things Brexit.
Other stories were
interesting. A lady was representing her mother, 99 years old and
too frail to travel, who had been living in Poland for more than 50
years and granted permanent residency more than 45 years ago. She
had received a letter from the NHS in England advising her that in
the event of No Deal, her health care, both in England and
reciprocally in Poland, was no longer valid, and that she needed to
purchase expensive private health care. The lady was seeking
confirmation that was indeed the true and what her mother should do.
No-one was able to give her a definitive answer.
A young Polish lady
was there on behalf of herself and her English partner, who had been
for work purposes relocated to Jersey. The couple wanted to split
their time between homes in both countries, but her partner had been
told that with a No Deal he would only be able to spend 30 days a
year in Poland and the lady only allowed the same amount of time in
Britain. Again, no-one was able to confirm the truth or otherwise in
this, as “details are still being worked out”.
There was also a
young British lady, accompanied by her daughter (no more than
4 years old I would guess) who lived and worked permanently in
Poland. The child’s father was for personal reasons still in the UK. This meant he was not able to spend as much time with his
daughter as either party wanted (largely on understandable cost
grounds) and this would now become even worse because of these
possible time limits. Again, there was no solution offered.
Finally, a guy about
my age was asking practical questions about which line he should join
when arriving at Heathrow, returning to Warsaw or visiting another EU
country. No-one was sure, but the general impression was that
arrival at Heathrow on a UK passport would mean the UK line, arrival
at Warsaw would be the Third Country line, but elsewhere in Europe
(specifically a non-Schengen EU member state) no-one was completely
sure but assumed the Third Country line.
The takeway: despite
over 3 ½ years working on this, Britain still has many decisions to
make. And there is not much more than a week to do so and notify the
world.
By contrast, Poland
is well prepared. A new Law has been introduced that enshrines the
rights and requirements for British people living in Poland in both a
Deal and No Deal scenario. Essentially, the Law defines what
documents are needed in both cases, and the application forms are
ready for use, and decisions taken as to the supporting documents
required. Applications can also be fast tracked. In cases where
somebody has an existing residency permit, paper based, this can be
exchanged for a credit-card type permit containing biometric data
that can be used as a travel document (within Schengen) at no cost.
Contrast this with the scheme Britain has introduced for resident EU
citizens that is being slated as too complex and too costly and has
already given rise to many complaints from people who, despite living
in Britain for many years already, have been refused a new permit,
apparently arbitrarily.
Few people in the
room expressed much confidence in the present Johnson Government to
deliver a deal without an extension beyond the end of the month,
despite all the bluster coming from people like the Prime Minister
and his closest ministers like Raab, Gove, Javid and Rees-Mogg. Even
fewer people had a good word to say about the British Government.
I assume similar
evenings are being held across the EU, and I would be very surprised
if they were any different in tone – and I suspect the Government
is well aware of this and doing everything it can to hold ex-pats at
arms length and disenfranchise them to ensure that their objections
and concerns do not influence any subsequent votes. I have said all
along that the majority of ex-pats are against Brexit and had we been
able to vote in 2016, the result would have been very different.
Nothing I saw and heard last night has changed that opinion. Simply
put, the Government, despite all its statements to the contrary,
really does not care a jot about the ex-pat community.
