The government has been accused of misleading parliament over efforts to protect the rights of British nationals already settled in Europe after Brexit.

A coalition of 12 groups representing 32,000 Britons living across Europe said the government had not been in touch with any of them – despite claims officials had engaged with expatriate groups on the issue.



They said they had had no response to a letter they sent to David Davis, the Brexit secretary, on 3 February asking his department to consult them.

“In the eight months since the referendum, no one from the Department for Exiting the European Union [DExEU] has been in touch with Expat Citizen Rights in EU (Ecreu), now probably the biggest such organisation in Europe. We are also part of a coalition of 12 similar groups in the EU and not one has ever been consulted,” said Dave Spokes, one of the founders of Ecreu.

“It does appear that in signing the white paper and presenting it to MPs, the prime minister and Mr Davies have misled parliament,” he said, speaking on behalf of the coalition, which includes representatives of Britons living in Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Belgium.

The government has continued to reject calls for a unilateral deal guaranteeing the rights of EU citizens in the UK, arguing it cannot do this until a reciprocal deal is agreed for British nationals in the EU.

The coalition has been the most high-profile campaign body seeking a deal on the rights of Britons settled in the EU – including the 190,000 UK pensioners living in Spain, France, Ireland and Cyprus.



They have given evidence to the Brexit select committee, chaired by Labour’s Hilary Benn, and to the House of Lords summer investigation into the impact of Brexit, but Spokes said there had been no contact from any cabinet office.

The government claimed in its policy paper on exiting the EU in February that “securing the status of, and providing certainty to, EU nationals already in the UK and to UK nationals in the EU is one of this government’s early priorities for the forthcoming negotiations … to this end, we have engaged a range of stakeholders, including expatriate groups, to ensure we understand the priorities of UK nationals living in EU countries”.

Roger Boaden, a former election manager for Margaret Thatcher and one of the founders of Ecreu, told Davis in the 3 February letter he was surprised to read that claim.

He pointed out that Ecreu was trying to engage with the government but was not getting any response. He wrote: “I would therefore imagine you are aware of our group, so I am wondering why you have not been in touch to ‘engage’ with us. When will you ‘work closely’ with us?”

David Davis, secretary of state for exiting the EU. Photograph: EPA

A spokesperson for DExEU said: “The government has been clear that we want to secure the status of British citizens currently living and working in European member states, in the same way that we want to secure the status of EU nationals already living here.

“We are working with our embassies across the EU to listen to any concerns and ensure that UK expats are kept up to date on the government’s position. This work has been particularly sustained in countries with large British expatriate populations, such as France and Spain. In Spain alone, there have been more than 20 meetings between the embassy and expatriates.”

Sue Wilson, of Bremain in Spain, one of the 12 groups in Europe trying to get the attention of the government, said DExEU had not been in touch. “A meeting with the embassy could be a meeting of an individual with the embassy. They don’t specify that they met with expatriate groups,” she said.

Another, the Guardian’s contributing editor and author Giles Tremlett, said DExEU officials were scheduled to attend a meeting of Britons in Mijas last Friday but failed to turn up.