Britain is preparing to grant nearly a million EU citizens the right to remain in the UK even though they have not achieved the five-year residency qualification as part of plans to kick-start Brexit negotiations, the Telegraph can reveal.

The proposal is part of a “generous” package of measures that will offer to guarantee the rights of all the 3m European Union citizens currently in the UK and build positive momentum in the coming talks that could begin as early as June 19.

Cabinet ministers are expected to debate the measures next week as they make final preparations for talks in Brussels where the fate of British and EU expats on both sides of the Channel will be top of the agenda.

Official sources added that the UK will offer to grant EU citizens “full equivalence” with the rights of UK citizens after Brexit Day at the end of March 2019.