Legislation which would give Dutch people living in the UK the right to have two nationalities will not be discussed in the senate this month as planned, because of the new political developments in Britain.

The draft law would give tens of thousands of Dutch nationals in the UK the right to dual nationality if Britain crashes out of Europe without a deal, by making it possible for some of them to become British without giving up their Dutch passports.

But now officials expect that Britain will come to an agreement with Europe during the transition period to the end of this year, making the legislation unnecessary. Senators will now decide in February how to proceed with the plans.

The bill was drawn up by the Liberal democratic party D66 and originally included British nationals in the Netherlands as well. But they were dropped from the proposals because there was not enough support in parliament for extending dual nationality rights to them.

While there is majority support for the plan in the senate,  the government is opposed to the legislation, saying it is precedent-setting and will create a specific category of dual nationals.

The government had pledged to publish its thoughts on reforming Dutch nationality this spring but has not yet done so.