The Secretary of state confirms that there are no specific plans to deal with those EU, EEA, Swiss citizens and their families who miss the EU Settlement Scheme deadline and that they will be “liable to prosecution for unlawful residence”.
Former MEP George Galloway has endorsed sabotaging the European Union if the United Kingdom is held in the bloc against the will of the British people will beyond the 31st of October.
In a startling Tweet the staunch supporter of leaving the European Union, Mr Galloway claimed that the United Kingdom must “Veto everything”if held in the EU against the will of the UK.
He wrote: “IF we are held in the EU against our will beyond October 31 we must make the corridors of power in Brussels ungovernable. Veto everything.”
The European Commission president said the bloc should not be held accountable for what is a “British decision”, stressing: “The European Union is not leaving the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union.”
Speaking to Sky News’ Sophie Ridge, Mr Juncker said: “The EU is in no way responsible for any kind of consequences entailed by the Brexit.
“That’s a British decision, a sovereign decision that we are respecting but don’t try to charge the European Union with the responsibility.”
Mr Juncker hinted at concerns that a hard border in Ireland would lead to the return of unrest on the island of Ireland.
He confirmed that controls at the Irish border would have to be implemented if Britain were to leave the EU without a deal, insisting: “We have to make sure that the interests of the European Union and of the internal market will be preserved.”
But he said he did not like the prospect of a hard border, given the violent clashes seen during The Troubles.
The conflict between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland lasted almost 30 years and cost the lives of more than 3,500 people, before the Good Friday Agreement
Mr Juncker told the Ridge on Sunday programme: “I don’t like it, a hard border. Because after the Good Friday Agreement – and this (agreement) has to be respected in all its parts.
“The situation in Ireland has improved; we should not play with this.
“Sometimes I have the impression that some people are forgetting about the history.
“But history will be back immediately.”
The Brussels official said he “was not criticising” British MPs and insisted he had “the highest respect possible for Westminster because it’s the mother of all parliaments.”
But, he stressed, it was the UK Government’s responsibility to stop any Irish border from becoming “significantly harder”.
Jean-Claude Juncker said he was “crystal clear” there will be no renegotiation of the Brexit deal, despite claims from several candidates in the U.K. Conservative leadership race that they will reopen talks with Brussels.
The European Commission president will meet Theresa May, who will be replaced as prime minister when a new Tory leader is elected this summer, ahead of an EU summit in Brussels on Tuesday evening.
Arriving at the summit, where leaders, including May, will discuss the European election results and begin the process of choosing the next European Council and Commission presidents, Juncker said his view on Brexit and the Withdrawal Agreement was unchanged: “There will be no renegotiation.”
Meanwhile Luxembourg’s prime minister Xavier Bettel told the BBC that a renegotiation under a new British prime minister was “not how it’s going to work.”
Several contenders to succeed May have indicated they will seek to renegotiate. Brexiteer figurehead Boris Johnson has written in the Telegraph about striking “a good bargain” with Brussels, while keeping the option of no-deal on the table, while Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, told BBC Radio 4’s Today program on Tuesday that he wanted to form a new negotiating team including Brexiteer MPs, and the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party to renegotiate the Irish backstop plan.
Former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, who is also planning to run for the leadership, has said he will “fight for a fairer deal in Brussels with negotiations to change the backstop arrangements.”
Arriving in Brussels, May herself said that Brexit was now “a matter for my successor” but warned that the next prime minister would have to “find a way of addressing the very strongly held views on both sides of this issue, and to do that and get a majority in parliament.” The task, she said would require “compromise,” reiterating her view that the government should strive for a deal with the EU.
Asked whether she would play a role in selecting the new European Council and Commission presidents, May said the U.K would “continue to play a constructive role during the time of this extension of Article 50.”
