Jones: EU citizens 'should not be hostages' in Brexit negotiations

First Minister Carwyn Jones has said EU citizens should not be "hostages" in any Brexit negotiations.

Mr Jones told the Senedd it was "utterly wrong" to use EU citizens living in the UK as "bargaining chips".

He said: "It makes them sound like hostages. They are not hostages. They are welcome in Wales."

He replied to a question from Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood who called on him to give reassurances to people from other parts of the EU living in Wales.

The comments come amid a debate in the Conservative leadership on guaranteeing the rights of EU citizens already in this country after Brexit.

Mr Jones told First Minister's Questions that he has written to Home Secretary Theresa May over the issue.

Ms May had suggested last weekend that the status of existing EU residents in the UK could be part of Brexit negotiations.

But Tory leadership contender Andrea Leadsom has said citizens of other EU countries living in the UK cannot be "bargaining chips" in Brexit negotiations.

'Can't afford'

Rival leadership contender, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Stephen Crabb, echoed Ms Leadsom's pledge.

During an urgent question session in the Senedd on EU citizens, Simon Thomas of Plaid Cymru said: "There are 67,000 people from European Union nations living in Wales, and 500 of them are doctors in our health service. We can't afford to lose these people.

"They are part of our families, part of our communities and part of contemporary Wales. It is disgraceful that these people are treated in the way that they have been in the past week."

Jenny Rathbone, Cardiff Central Labour AM, said she spent part of Monday morning "trying to remove a racist slogan from somebody's front door".

"Unfortunately these sort of incidents are not isolated."