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Britain's foreign minister Boris Johnson has disclosed that EU citizens currently living in the UK will be protected post-Brexit.

Johnson made this declaration at an evening reception on Tuesday where he said "your rights will be protected whatever happens" after Brexit.

Johnson who is also a former Mayor of London stated that the U.K. is blessed with numerous foreign businesses and citizens further disclosing that thay are at the heart of every negotiation or decision being made.

"We have 30,000 businesses in this country that are Polish. We have 1 million Poles in Britain," the foreign secretary said. "We are thoroughly blessed, we are lucky. And I have only one message for you all tonight: you are loved, you are welcome, your rights will be protected whatever happens. Yes. You are recording this? Your rights will be protected whatever happens."

Only hours earlier, Johnson had been more circumspect when he told the House of Commons that the deal on EU citizens had not yet been settled and it was "up to our friends and partners in the EU now to look seriously at the offer we are making and, particularly on citizens, to make progress".

"Everybody wants to make progress, everybody wants to give the 3.2 million EU citizens in this country the maximum possible reassurance and security. That can only happen once our friends and partners decide to get serious in these negotiations," he told MPs.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Theresa May is yet to confirm this is the case as she continues to fight towards getting the best post-Brexit deal for Britain.