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Alice Welsh

@awelsh.bsky.social

Lecturer in Law, University of York

15 Posts435 Follower316 Folgt
Lisa O’Carroll@lisaocarroll.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Sweden accounts for 12% of all post Brexit residency refusals across the EU member states, even though UK nationals in Sweden makes up only 1.55% of the total population of WA beneficiaries in EU member states. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

British widow, 78, told to leave Sweden under Brexit rules after living there for 21 years

Authorities say application to stay was made too late, as UK officials say Sweden takes ‘stricter approach’ than other EU countries

theguardian.com

Charlotte O'Brien@cobrien.bsky.social · 10mo ago

New Year Pop Quiz: Which of the 6 million + people with EU Settlement Scheme status has documentary confirmation that they are residing on the basis of the Withdrawal Agreement? Astonishingly, the UK government's position appears to be: none of them. But wasn’t that the whole point of the EUSS?

Screenshot of a powerpoint slide, from a talk Alice and Charlotte gave on this exact subject, at the NAWRA conference in December 2025, hosted by the Welfare Benefit Unit, York. Slide shows a powerpoint stock image of a cake, and the EU Rights and Brexit Hub logo. The title is 'Extreme Cakeism'. and the text reads: * So, the EUSS is: constitutive for purposes of exclusion and immigration control * Declaratory for purposes of enabling discrimination* Scheme that gives some certainty to authorities* Scheme that gives NO certainty to individuals while misleading them! * New article in the Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law all about this mess: “Side-stepping international law on the sly: The secret severing of the EU Settlement Scheme from the Withdrawal Agreement”
Charlotte O'Brien@cobrien.bsky.social · last yr.

Did you know that the Scottish Government has immediate plans to introduce a top-up benefit for families in Scotland affected by the UK's two child limit? Short 🧵 The Scottish Commission on Social Security scrutinised the draft regulations at pace this summer & I was invited to submit observations

Front page of Scottish Commission on Social Security Scrutiny report on draft Regulations: The Two Child Limit Payment (Scotland) Regulations 2026
Charlotte O'Brien@cobrien.bsky.social · last yr.

*Why* does it matter that NOBODY in the UK currently knows whether or not they have Withdrawal Agreement based residence rights? A Court of Appeal judge asked this yesterday. IT MATTERS, as our evidence to the HoL European Affairs Committee explains, for 3 reasons (spolier alert: one is Windrush):

Windrush commemoration monument, by Basil Walsh: image from the House of Lords website
Charlotte O'Brien@cobrien.bsky.social · 2y ago

How many UK Supreme Court judges do you think ever acted as lawyers for a claimant in a social security case? ZERO. *Extremely nervous* to announce this rather bolshy ('somewhat contentious' and 'robust in tone') piece in the JSSL. I argue there is a 'professional diversity deficit' in UKSC, AND...

Screenshot of title and abstract of journal article. Title is 'The professional diversity deficit: the UK Supreme Court’s social security law blind spot'. Abstract is: 'It is no secret that the UK Supreme Court lacks demographic diversity. But there is very little commentary on a different diversity gap—that of professional experience. UK Supreme Court judges are typically drawn from lucrative areas of legal practice, creating a pronounced professional practice gap in the realm of social security law. None of the sitting Supreme Court judges have ever acted in a reported security case for social security claimants against the State. This creates a problem of perspective; would we really expect a panel of Goliath advocates to give David a fair hearing? This article highlights the hitherto under-explored evidence of a professional deficit on the Court, and argues that this cannot help but have an influence upon judicial perspectives. One such possible influence is the “alegalisation” of social security law—the treatment of it as not-law but as a matter of pure politics. Here, the article analyses how the line is drawn in key cases, in which it seems the Court feels responsible for defending some “pure law” human rights, while defending the courtroom from other human rights claims—those relating to social security. But poverty is a human rights issue, and human rights are (still) a matter of law. We need to bring social security expertise and claimant perspectives to the bench if we are to reassert the legal nature of social security rights.'
Alice Welsh@awelsh.bsky.social · 2y ago

I'm so excited to share the cover of my upcoming book with Hart. The Market Citizenship Illusion! It examines real experiences of EU migrant atypical workers and the outdated definition of economic activity to question if EU citizenship truly aims to protect those with market credentials.

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