May Insisted That "Ending Of Free Movement Of People" Be Added To The First Page Of Her Brexit Deal

[Denzil_DC]

Theresa May Personally Insisted That The Words “Ending Of Free Movement Of People” Be Added To The First Page Of Her Brexit Deal

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May demanded the specific drafting through the UK’s Brexit negotiating team, who let it be known the prime minister was insisting that the terms be added in a prominent position in the text.

Such an unusual and personal intervention on a mostly decorative detail — in the middle of delicately balanced negotiations packed with technical and complicated issues — was viewed in Brussels as a clear sign of the top issue that drives and defines her Brexit.

Terminating free movement has been May’s unshakable guide throughout the Brexit talks, ultimately shaping the overall agreement negotiated with the European Union now on the table — and it goes to the heart of how the prime minister interprets the 2016 referendum result.

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But EU sources have noted that the prime minister’s enthusiasm for putting an end to free movement has not always been matched by an equal dose of frankness when it comes to clearly spelling out to voters and MPs that the right to freely work, live, and retire anywhere in the 28-country bloc to is a two-way street that will see Britons lose those very same rights after Brexit.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/albertonardelli/theresa-may-ending-free-movement-first-page-brexit

This struck me when I saw May give the TV address announcing her Brexit deal (well, proposed deal at this stage). She very heavily emphasized the words "freedom of movement will END", and a chill ran through me. I wasn't surprised that the most rabidly hardline of Home Secretaries (in a post that seems to turn even quasi-reasonable politicians into rabid hardliners) would come out with this, but the bluntness and relish with which she announced it hit home hard. She seemed to think it a great selling point.

It's not as if I'm among those groups living in the UK who are and will be directly targeted and suffer from the results of this obsession. I'll no doubt suffer indirect consequences only too plainly when staffing our hospitals is even more inadequate etc. I'll also miss some of the interesting people from the EU who've settled temporarily for work in our community, and feel sad for friends whose kids have married EU citizens and moved abroad, as such a change increases the sense of distance and can only complicate those families' futures that looked so rosy just a few years ago.

It's not as if I've travelled abroad that often in the last couple of decades. But the feeling that I could visit EU countries with great ease, even on a whim, if I wanted to - and had the option of trying to relocate there if I could muster the gumption - was something I valued.

May's words sounded like a judge pronouncing a sentence.

But then I'm obviously not Theresa May's target audience. She's made it very clear she doesn't give a fuck what I think or want.