Cabinet ministers accused of misleading public in statements about EU citizens’ rights

Michael Gove and Jacob Rees-Mogg have been criticised for inflating the numbers of EU citizens who have been given settled status under a Home Office scheme, neglecting to distinguish between those given permanent rights and those granted a more precarious, temporary status.

Both cabinet ministers have appeared on television and radio in the past two days declaring that more than 1 million people have been granted settled status, in effect giving them a permanent right to remain in the UK after Brexit. However, official Home Office statistics indicate that only 609,000 people have received this status.