Anti Brexit expats in Europe told to just go home

Why are expats fighting for their rights in Europe being told to ‘just come home’?

Social media is one way to let off steam for UK expats trapped in European member states with no idea what will happen to them at the end of next March. Sadly, the response by a number of other posters is ‘come home then’ at best and a selection of far ruder comments at worst. It seems that taking into account the fact that many thousands of Brits would give anything to stay in their chosen countries simply because they can’t afford to live in the UK hasn’t yet occurred to these insensitive keyboard warriors.

For many British expats all over affordable parts of Europe, it’s not financially possible for them to return to the UK and, with the fall in sterling, it’s hardly possible for them to make ends meet where they are. The threat of frozen pensions and private healthcare charges are terrifying for those who left the UK to avoid living their retirement years either in abject poverty or by working till they dropped. These are the expatriates who’re angry, fearful and determined to stand up for their rights as a result, even if those who’re defining their futures aren’t listening.

Many are previous professionals such as teachers and workers in the NHS, none of whom earned salaries high enough to set up private pensions yielding sums able to keep them in luxury during their retirement years. All moved to Europe under a particular set of circumstances which have now been thrown to the winds by an ‘advisory’ referendum used for purely political gain by a few. Now, due to the falling sterling exchange rate, their monthly state pension has been cut by 25 per cent, leaving many on the edge of penury even in their present less expensive locations.

Britain is now ripping up the treaty by which it joined the EU without even a thought for the lives it’s ripping apart as a result, thus abandoning some 300,000 of its own citizens whilst inviting EU expats in the UK to apply for residency with the assurance their rights will be protected. It’s a Britain that few expats would now recognise as the country they left, giving them yet another reason not to return under any circumstances.