House of Commons Copyright: House of Commons

The discussion in the Home Affairs Committee meeting now moves on to Brexit. Mr Goodwill is pressed on how the Home Office will work with other government departments in implementing the will of the British people that the UK should leave the EU.

He says it will be a collaborative exercise but that when it comes to immigration, the Home Office rather than the Brexit department will have the final say and that it is the PM who has the ultimate authority to "cut a deal" when it comes to the negotiations.

Moving on to the status of EU nationals already living in the UK, he says there is no threat to their current status or their ultimate right to remain unless other EU countries do not give reciprocal rights to British citizens living elsewhere in the EU.

Asked by Labour's Chuka Umunna if there might be a cut-off or reference point for deciding who can automatically stay, Mr Goodwill says it has not been decided and says a number of dates have been mentioned including the date of the referendum, the moment Article 50 is triggered or the actual date of departure from the EU.