Green light for major migration overhaul
A MAJOR overhaul of immigration will still go ahead, despite experts warning yesterday that it may only lead to small improvements in standards of living.
The Prime Minister and Home Secretary Priti
Patel want to introduce an Australian-style points model to lower net migration and attract the “brightest and best”.
Applicants would be rated on desirable traits such as time in a skilled sector or proficiency in the English language.
But a report from the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) warned it could also hinder growth and have a limited impact on living standards. It estimated
“very small increases in
GDP per capita and productivity” and “slightly improved public finances”.
Committee chairman Professor Alan Manning said it was hard to predict what will happen.
Asked if the changes could boost British jobs for British workers, he said “there will be zero effect”.
He added: “Immigration hasn’t really harmed people’s employment opportunities or their wages, but equally it hasn’t really benefited them very much either.”
The MAC also suggested cutting the £30,000 that current non-EU migrants must now earn to £25,400 for skilled workers, to address shortages after Brexit.
Mr Johnson’s blueprint should come into force once the Brexit transition ends in December, when
EU citizens will face the same restrictions as the rest of the world.
The MAC report was commissioned by the Home Office last year.The PM’s spokesman said: “We will look at the report carefully before we respond.”
But the Government is still going ahead with the new system. He added: “The public have delivered a very clear message that they want low-skilled immigration bringing under control and reducing.”
The committee urged a quick decision to allow firms time to prepare to implement the new system in January next year.
Prof Manning added: “No perfect system exists and there are unavoidable, difficult trade-offs.”
The news comes after the PM announced top scientists and researchers will be given fasttracked entry from next month.
Edwin Morgan, of the Institute of Directors, said: “The Government must ensure that whatever plans it takes forward, firms aren’t faced with a byzantine system when they need talent to grow. Implementing a new system and adapting to it will be a race against the clock for both Government and businesses.”
Mike Cherry, of the Federation of Small Businesses, welcomed the proposed lower pay threshold.
But he added: “It is vital that the workers and skills needed for the UK’s economy to grow are not locked out by a future immigration system which is unresponsive to business needs.”