TOUGH NEW PLAN TO SLASH MIGRANT NUMBERS
THE Government plans to crack down on low-skilled European migrants after Brexit, a leaked policy paper revealed last night.
The tough new restrictions aimed at deterring EU nationals from coming to work and settle in Britain could begin immediately after the UK leaves the bloc in 2019.
An 82-page draft from the Home Office marked “sensitive” set out the UK’s post-Brexit migration policy – and is putting British workers first.
The document stressed that leaving the EU will mean “the end of rights-based, unconditional free movement”, allowing the Government to take “a more selective approach” as to which migrants will be allowed to work and settle in the UK.
The paper said: “Wherever possible, UK employers should look to meet their labour needs from resident labour. It is now more important than ever that we have the right skills domestically to build a strong and competitive economy.
“Put plainly, this means that to be considered valuable to the country as a whole, immigration should benefit not just the migrants themselves but also make existing residents better off.”
Low-skilled EU migrants will only be able to stay in the UK for a maximum of two years, while high-skilled workers will only be granted a maximum of five years, the leaked document suggests.
The proposals were welcomed by campaigners for controlled migration.
Lord Green of Deddington, chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: “This is very good news indeed. Completely uncontrolled migration from the EU simply must come to an end, as the public have been demanding for far too long.
“These proposals rightly ensure access to the very highly skilled but not the less skilled, and by doing so could well reduce net migration from the EU by 100,000 a year.
“That would be a huge step towards achieving the Government’s immigration target.”
The policy has yet to be agreed by ministers, said to be trying to strike the balance between enabling British businesses to source the workers they need, and clamping down on unchecked migration. The authors also stress the proposals will be “subject to negotiations with the EU”.
A Whitehall source said: “This was an early draft and there have been several since.”
A Government spokesman said: “We do not comment on leaked draft documents. We will be setting out our initial proposals for a new immigration system which takes back control of the UK’s borders later in the autumn.”