Boris assaults May’s Brexit plan
Britain’s Boris Johnson on Tuesday launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plan at a fractious party conference that came as Brussels pressed London for a compromise on leaving the EU.
Mixing breezy jokes with biting one- liners that always stopped short of attacking May herself, the former foreign minister called her strategy “dangerous and unstable”.
“My fellow Conservatives, this is not democracy. This is not what we voted for. This is an outrage,” he said in a 35- minute address that was interrupted by repeated bursts of laughter and cheers.
The wide- ranging speech was widely seen as Johnson’s audition for May’s job before the party faithful at their annual gathering. Some 1,500 people packed a conference hall room after queueing for hours to see May’s political nemesis deliver his biggest address since he quit the government in protest in July.
Mr Johnson did little to douse suspicions of an eventual leadership challenge, using his characteristic swagger and wit to pick apart May’s proposal. He said he wanted to force May to reverse her bid to keep close economic ties with the European Union once Britain leaves in March. Ms May appeared intent on stealing Mr Johnson’s spotlight, scheduling a flurry of morning interviews at which she unveiled a new immigration policy a day ahead of schedule.
Free movement of EU workers was a key issue in the 2016 vote for Brexit, and May confirmed that Europeans would be treated the same as non- EU citizens in future.
She took to the airwaves again after Johnson’s appearance, telling Sky News dismissively that he “always puts on a good show” while she focuses on things that mattered to people’s “day- to- day lives”.
Britain will not offer European Union citizens preferential immigration status after Brexit, the government said on Tuesday, announcing a system designed to give migrants with skills the UK needs priority over low- skilled migrants.
At present, all EU nationals can live and work in Britain under the bloc’s free- movement rules, but that will change after the UK leaves next year.
Announcing Britain’s biggest immigration changes in a generation, Prime Minister Theresa May said that the new system “ends freedom of movement once and for all” — a key government promise on Brexit.
“For the first time in decades, it will be this country that controls and chooses who we want to come here,” Ms May said.
Under the proposals announced at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, applicants from any country wanting to settle in Britain will have to meet a salary threshold, and will only be able to bring their family to live with them if they are sponsored by their employers.
The government confirmed its previous commitment that all the 3 million EU citizens currently living in Britain can stay, even if the UK leaves the bloc without an agreement on future relations.
Despite the government’s assertion that all countries will be treated the same, ministers and business groups have said the UK could offer preferential access in return for free- trade deals — including one with the EU.
The announcement includes a plan to speed up entry for short- term tourists and business visitors with a system of “egate visa checks” at airports.
Immigration is a divisive issue in Britain, and reducing the number of newcomers was a major factor for many who voted in 2016 to leave the European Union. More than 1 million EU citizens have settled in Britain since eight formerly Communist eastern European nations joined the EU in 2004.
Ms May said that “for too long people have felt they have been ignored on immigration and that politicians have not taken their concerns seriously enough.”
The Conservative government has a longstanding goal of reducing net immigration below 100,000 people a year, which it has never come close to meeting. The current level more than double that.
The government’s postBrexit plan does not mention a figure, but says immigration will be set at “sustainable” levels.
Julia Onslow- Cole, head of global immigration at PwC, said that businesses regarded the 100,000 target as “very unhelpful.”
Former home secretary Amber Rudd, who was in charge of immigration policy until earlier this year, said that the target had not been officially dropped, “but I don’t think you’ll find many secretaries of state championing it ever- louder.”