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| Information: BBC |
After last night's Tory landslide victory, the default scenario is now a Deal in January. The Withdrawal Agreement will have to go through Parliament and there will be scrutiny, especially on the Northern Ireland clauses, but Johnson's big majority should make it relatively easy. So by 31/01/20 we should be out.
Looking on the bright side, which it is not easy to do for most of us, this means that UKinEU and EUinUK will at least have the protection of an international treaty, which was not the case with No Deal. See below a table with our analysis of what we will lose and keep in a deal - and what is still not clear.
What are we going to do next? Next week, EuroCitizens will be asking for meetings with the UK Embassy and the Spanish government in order to clarify what will happen in seven weeks time and how we will be dealt with in a Deal. We presume (and hope) that the Spanish administration will use all the work they have done on Brexit contingency plans (Royal Decree 5/2019) for a straightforward declaratory registration system with a generous 'grace period'.
It is a very difficult day for the 360,000 Britons in Spain, most of whom were disenfranchised in yesterday's elections and whose loss of EU citizenship (and the rights that it entails) is virtually inevitable unless they can get Spanish nationality. The only silver lining is that Deal is a lot better than No Deal. Even if the UK fails next year to agree on a future trade agreement with the EU, our basic rights in Spain will be guaranteed.
