Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will make it his policy to seek to secure a ring-fenced agreement with the EU on citizens rights even if no agreement on other matters related to the UK leaving the EU can be concluded and ratified by 29 March 2018.

The Government’s approach throughout this process has been to seek to agree all of the issues related to our withdrawal from the European Union. The agreement that we have reached on citizens’ rights is the only way of fully protecting the rights of all citizens.

The Prime Minister has been clear that EU citizens resident in the UK by the 29 March will be able to stay and have their rights protected. We published the Citizens’ rights: EU citizens and UK nationals policy paper on 6 December, which sets out further details of our offer to citizens in a no deal.

We are engaging Member States and urging them to reciprocate this offer for UK citizens in full.