The Spectator

Theresa’s first mistake

Since when did ­Britain treat Polish nurses and German academics as hostages, to be kicked out in extreme circumstances?

issue 23 July 2016

This week’s lead article, as read by Lara Prendergast


Helga Hunter met her husband Michael when he was a Scots Guardsman serving in Münster in 1968. She moved back with him, and they have lived in Britain ever since. Last week, she was astonished to receive a letter from the Scottish National Party saying that she is still ‘welcome in Scotland’ and faces ‘no immediate changes’ to her status due to the Brexit vote. But as a German national, she now faces ‘great uncertainty over how events will unfold’. To the SNP’s enemies, this seemed a deplorable scare tactic intended to fuel indignation and stoke demand for a second independence referendum. It’s certainly deplorable. But in fact, the scare tactic came from Downing Street.

Since announcing her candidacy for the leadership of the Conservative party, Theresa May has adopted a fringe position on the status of immigrants from the European Union.

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