Johnson vows ‘openness’ for UK entry
Kiwis seeking access to the United Kingdom should in future have a regime ‘‘at least as attractive’’ as the current one, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says.
Speaking at a press conference in Wellington yesterday, after talks with Prime Minister Bill English and Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee, Johnson sought to downplay concerns Kiwis on their ‘‘OE’’ could be worse off after Brexit and amid moves to tighten immigration into the UK.
‘‘So on the ancestry visas, the overseas experience, and stuff like that we will want to maintain a regime that is at least as attractive as the current regime and we will want to maintain a policy of openness and engagement,’’ he said.
He said with Brexit ’’it wasn’t that people were hostile to immigrants, they weren’t hostile to people with talent and energy coming to the UK. They just wanted to feel the British Government had a handle on it and that’s what we are going to do.’’
Brownlee later told reporters that on the New Zealand side there was hope for even better access. ’’We think there might be some chances of getting better access, particularly for our young people.’’
New Zealanders staying in the UK for more than six months have to pay a surcharge to access the National Health Service (NHS) of £150 ($326) for New Zealanders on the Youth Mobility Scheme or student visas, and £200 ($435) for New Zealanders on other visas for more than six months.
Out of more than 150,000 New Zealanders who travelled to the UK in 2015, about 8000 were on visas allowing them to stay longer than six months.
Brownlee said the message he took away from the talks with Johnson was that Brexit did not mean the end of the strong relationship with the UK.
Johnson reiterated to reporters that Brexit was not about Britain turning away from the world.
He said New Zealand would be ‘‘at or near the front of the queue’’ for future free trade talks.
Brownlee said the UK had to formally exit the EU before it could enter into those talks.
The two had also discussed security issues, including Isis and North Korea’s missile launches and what Johnson called the ‘‘nuclear adventurism of that regime’’.