The British government has rejected calls for ministers to negotiate continued European Union citizenship for UK residents after Brexit.
Ministry of Justice spokesman Lord Keen said that while many in Britain wanted to remain citizens of the EU, more had decided they did not in the referendum.
"It's simply not feasible for us to set upon a course of negotiation that is doomed to failure," he told peers in the marathon committee stage of the EU (Withdrawal) Bill.
"We cannot secure EU citizenship for citizens of the UK after we leave the EU."
Lord Keen was responding to a call by Lord Wigley for ministers in Brexit negotiations to secure continued EU citizenship for UK citizens.
Warning there was strong opposition to its loss, Lord Wigley said associate European citizenship was a model the Government could adopt. "This is all a matter of political will," he added.
But opposition the Labour spokeswoman Baroness Hayter said that while many "ached" to retain EU citizenship, "standalone EU citizenship" did not exist.
Lady Hayter said sadly UK citizens would lose EU citizenship under Brexit but added: "What we can do is to ensure that in every moment of the negotiation we prioritise the movement of people around the continent in a way that a generation has learned to enjoy and value."
She added: "It is a continental Brexit that we would like to see."
The exchanges came as weary peers neared the end of 11 days of detailed line-by-line study of the Bill, which transfers EU law into UK domestic law ahead of exit day.
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