The current government shot down an amendment to the Brexit bill that would have guaranteed the rights of EU nationals currently in the UK. I don't think the onus is on the EU at this point to protect UK citizens. No discussions can be made until Article 50 has been triggered.

Also, you need to take anything the UK government says with a grain of salt. Once upon a time, what looked like a promise to invest 350M into the NHS after Brexit appeared to be nothing but a political ploy.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/sep/10/brexit-camp...