EU migrants may have it easier than Commonwealth

EU MIGRANTS could be given preferential treatment compared with Commonwealth citizens under the UK’S post-brexit immigration system.

Downing Street has refused to rule out making it easier for European workers than their Commonwealth counterparts to come to Britain after the UK’S divorce from Brussels.

Such a move would likely prompt anger among Brexiteer ministers who have been pushing for more generous visa schemes for people seeking to come to the UK from such countries as Australia, Canada and South Africa. It would also undermine a key pledge made by the Leave campaign during the 2016 EU referendum to introduce an immigration system built on the principle of fairness which would treat everyone the same, regardless of country of origin.

Downing Street was yesterday asked if Theresa May had reassured her peers at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London that their citizens would be treated in the same way as those from EU countries in the post-brexit immigration system.

But Downing Street refused to rule out giving preferential treatment to EU migrants. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We have talked about the value of the Commonwealth and those coming from the Commonwealth to the UK... and completely stand by that. In terms of details, that is a matter for the future immigration policy.”

The spokesman would not be drawn on the specifics of the Government’s immigration plans but said the new system would be “based on the evidence” and would deliver “control of our borders”.

It has been suggested that Europeans could be subject to a work permit scheme instead of having to go through a more complicated visa system.

‘We have talked about the value [to our society] of those coming from the Commonwealth to the UK’