May u-turns £65 fee for EU nationals seeking post-Brexit settled status

The Liberal Democrats have welcomed the Prime Minister's u-turn to drop the £65 fee for EU nationals seeking settled status following Brexit.

We need to make it clear to EU citizens living and working in the UK that they are welcome and that they contribute so much, in so many ways to the UK. Dropping this fee will help but it is not clear the Home Office is fit to actually oversee the process and it needs to looked at again.

Just last week Bedford Borough's Mayor Dave Hodgson and Councillor Tim Hill spoke at Full Council of the contribution EU citizens have made locally. Mayor Dave said "It is indeed a worrying time for EU citizens who live in Bedford Borough. These are individuals and families who have made their homes here both in recent years and in many cases across generations, and who have contributed in countless ways. This is their borough, their home, as much as it is yours or mine. We only have to think of those who came to work in the brick-making industry, and how Bedford's Italian community has helped to shape and enrich borough in so many ways, across the lifetime of all of us here. I am appalled that there is still uncertainty and confusion for so many people, and I'm sure that we all want to send a message to the EU citizens living in Bedford Borough that they are welcome here and that we will do all we can to support them and give them security regarding their status now and in the future."