PM to axe minimum salary for migrants
BIG Ben stays silent as the row rumbles on over whether it should bong for Brexit.
With just nine days to go, campaigner Mark Francois insists fellow MPs should be given a vote on whether to reactivate the bell, pictured yesterday in the middle of restoration works. He wrote to Boris Johnson, saying: “You started this, so I am calling upon you to help finish it.As the clock is metaphorically ticking – but not yet chiming! – I await your early
THE jobless total in the UK has dropped to below 1.31 million – the lowest level since 1974.
The number of people claiming unemployment benefit fell by 7,000 in the three months to November, official figures revealed yesterday.
Female unemployment fell by 9,000 while the number of jobless men rose by 2,000.
Meanwhile, the employment rate grew to its highest point on record, at 76.3 per cent – 0.6 points higher than a year earlier.
David Freeman of the Office for National Statistics, said: “The employment rate is at a record high, with over two-thirds of the growth in people in work in the last year coming from women working full-time.
“Self-employment has also been growing strongly, and the number of people working for themselves has now passed five million for the first time.”
It means that just 3.8 per cent of people who are looking for work do not have a job – although reply.” Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle is believed to have asked works contractors to reconsider the figure of £500,000 said to be needed for the bongs.
A crowdfunding campaign supported by the Daily Express topped £270,000 last night. earnings are still lower than in the run-up to the financial crisis, the ONS said.
The growth in average weekly earnings, including bonuses, remained unchanged at 3.2 per cent. Mr Freeman added: “While pay growth has eased since last summer, with inflation remaining subdued, earnings are continuing to increase in real terms.”
Currently the average weekly wage is £472, which is £1, or 0.2 per cent less than in March 2008. The number of vacant jobs fell by 11,000 to 805,000 – 49,000 fewer than the same period a year earlier, statistics showed.
Mims Davies, Minister for Employment, said: “With unemployment at its lowest since the Seventies, our jobcentres go beyond getting people into work – they are about community and progression. “Reaching out to more people, and supporting those in work to get ahead.”
BORIS Johnson is poised to drop rules that would stop migrants moving to Britain after Brexit unless they earn £30,000.
Downing Street indicated the minimum salary threshold will be ditched when it draws up its new immigration system.
An Australian-style points based method of assessing foreign workers will be introduced from January 1 next year.
The Prime Minister told Cabinet yesterday the changes he is planning will mean “taking back control” of the UK’s borders.
Low skilled migration will be reduced while “global talent” is unleashed, Mr Johnson told his top team.
His official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister said the public have been clear that they want us to end freedom of movement and take back control of our borders. It is our duty to deliver on this promise.”
Under Theresa May, the £30,000 earnings
Earnings rule...Theresa May requirement was expected to be extended from international migrants to cover EU workers moving to Britain after Brexit.
Sajid Javid ordered a review into the earnings threshold last June while he was Home Secretary.
The Migration Advisory Committee, an independent body which advises the Government, is expected to report back its findings next week.
Scientists are among those who have warned the figure will mean vital skilled professionals are stopped from moving to the UK.
Employers have also warned of shortages in construction, hospitality and social care.
Meanwhile Mr Johnson will mark the UK’s departure from the bloc by holding his next Cabinet in northern England on exit day.
No 10 said it was part of the PM’s commitment to “engage more widely” across Britain and to “level up and work for the whole country.”