London Mayor wants EU nationals to remain in UK

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan on Tuesday stepped up calls for the British government to offer a "cast-iron guarantee" to European Union (EU) nationals on their right to remain in the UK after Brexit, a media report said on Tuesday.

Speaking at an event in Brussels, Khan said an offer to 3.3 million EU nationals, one million of whom are Londoners, would be "the perfect gesture of goodwill" and urged the rest of the EU to make the same move, the Guardian said in the report.

Khan is visiting the Belgian capital a day before the British government plans to trigger the two-year process that will end Britain's EU membership in 2019.

"A bad Brexit deal that hurts London would hurt the European Union too," he said.

He evoked supply chain disruptions and businesses quitting London for New York or Singapore, rather than heading to Paris or Frankfurt.

"A hard Brexit really is a lose-lose situation," he added.

During his stay, Khan will meet Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission, and Antonio Tajani, the President of the European parliament, the Guardian report said.

Speaking days after EU leaders, minus British Prime Minister Theresa May, celebrated 60 years of European unity, Khan praised the bloc, describing it as the foundation for peace and a symbol that countries could work together.

"In London, we will always consider ourselves part of the European family," he added.

--IANS

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