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More than a million Brits who live abroad have been dealt a blow in an formal statement by Brexit Secretary David Davis.

The top Tory publicly confirmed he faces a battle to keep one of their key rights in his negotiations with the EU.

Mr Davis wants the 1.2million Brits who live in 27 other EU countries to keep the right to 'onward movement' after Brexit in March 2019.

That would mean a British worker already living in Spain could then move to Germany or France with no restrictions.

Mr Davis claims this would match the offer he is making to EU citizens who already live in Britain - because they can choose to stay in Britain or travel to any other EU state.

But EU officials did not offer this during talks in July, Mr Davis said.

(Image: AFP)

That means Brits would be given a simple choice after Brexit - stay in your adopted country, or return to the UK.

Mr Davis wrote: "We have questioned whether this is consistent with the principle of reciprocity, and also with the Commission’s desire to protect rights currently enjoyed under EU law."

Mr Davis added the EU's offer would also scrap the rights of British citizens who live abroad to vote in certain elections.

The dilemma, now publicly confirmed by a Cabinet minister, was first revealed by senior anonymous sources after the talks last month.

At the time, EU officials told the Guardian they couldn't meet the demand because Britain's offer was not good enough.

The 3.2million EU citizens who live in Britain are being offered 'settled status', but this will expire if they move back home for just two years.

In his letter to the House of Lords Brexit Committee, Mr Davis also tried to hit back at criticism of his male-dominated top negotiating team.

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Despite just two of 13 staff on the top team being women, he insisted his department was 52% female and 48% male overall.

And he said 40% of the full negotiating team involved in the July Brussels talks was female.

Mr Davis was left red-faced last month after a Lords committee asked how many women were on the team and he replied: "I can't remember. I'll write to you. I don't know."

The next round of Brexit talks is due in the last week of August.