Thread by @the3million

1/ UK is going to guarantee #citizensrights of EU citizens in the UK without the EU, one sided - unilaterally - in case of no deal Brexit leaked papers show. Claiming the moral high ground over the EU.
Yet again, too late, too little. itv.com/news/2018-08-1…

2/ The time for unilateral guarantees and claiming the moral high ground passed a long time ago though. Together with the @BritishInEurope we pleaded with the UK Govt to take that moral high ground for months after the referendum. It fell on deaf ears.
theguardian.com/politics/2016/…

3/ instead UK Govt reduced EU citizens in the UK & the @BritishInEurope down to Brexit negotiation capital. Made us a #BargainingChip. Unilateral guarantee would have been the right until triggering Article 50. It would have created much needed goodwill.
blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/08/reveal…

4/ After triggering Article 50 it was too late. Many of the #citizensrights of the EU citizens in the UK & @BritishInEurope have cross border elements. From coordinating social benefits to pensions. All this cannot be achieved with only one side guaranteeing the rights.

5/ Thus, taking the moral high ground now, when all of these cross border #citizensrights elements have been agreed with the EU back in December 2017, would not be to offer substandard unilateral guarantees but to work with the EU to ring fence what has been agreed already.

6/ ring fencing would mean that the #citizensrights element of the Withdrawal Agreement negotiations are dealt with in separate cotizens' rights agreement. That would be moral high ground.

7/ @smismanss wrote about a seperate #citizensrights agreement over a year ago in 2017. Whoever wants to claim the moral high ground must take the first step in doing the only decent thing - ring fence what has been agreed so far. /end
theconversation.com/how-to-protect…