OXFORD chef Raymond Blanc backed the government’s EU Settlement Scheme, before the prime minister announced it would be watered-down. 
Mr Blanc, who owns Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Great Milton, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he thought the scheme was ‘brilliant’.
The government has been widely criticised for the scheme, which was set to see EU nationals living in Britain spend £65 to apply to stay in the country. The fees were scrapped this afternoon.

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Mr Blanc, who has been in the UK for 46 years, said: "The subject of Brexit is a big issue for us (EU citizens) and it effects the service industry (which) is the third biggest industry in Great Britain (and) has 2.9 million people, which is the backbone of tourism.

"I think (the scheme) is a brilliant initiative because staff shortage could easily turn into a crisis. Many Europeans do not come to Great Britain anymore because the pound has gone down and that means they cannot send money back to their families, they don’t know what kind of welcome they are going to have and they don’t know what kind of Brexit we are going to have.

"I believe it is a good initiative, I believe it will deliver."

Mr Blanc added that he 'wished' his British friends would do jobs in the sector.

According to June 2018 estimates from Oxford University’s Migration Observatory, about 48,000 EU nationals live in Oxfordshire, with around 17,000 in Oxford.