May pledges to limit low-skilled migrants
Immigration policy after Brexit will require workers to meet salary threshold, says Prime Minister
A CURB on low-skilled workers from the European Union will be at the centre of Britain’s post-brexit immigration policy, Theresa May has announced.
The Prime Minister confirmed that free movement will end completely, with a single immigration system that treats EU countries the same as non-eu countries.
Skilled workers will be given priority over unskilled workers and applicants for skilled jobs will need to meet a minimum salary threshold to ensure they are not competing for jobs that could otherwise be filled by British citizens.
Those who get jobs will be able to bring their immediate family, but only if sponsored by their future employers.
Announcing the biggest change to the immigration system in decades, which will be put into place in January 2021, Mrs May said Britain will also introduce a system of e-gate visa checks for tourists and visitors coming to the UK for holidays and short business trips from all “low risk countries”.
All security and criminal records checks will be carried out in advance of visits in a Us-style system of in-country security checks, speeding up the process of entering the UK when visitors arrive. Mrs May has also said there will be no cap on student visas.
The Prime Minister said: “For the first time in decades, it will be this country that controls and chooses who we want to come here… Crucially it will be fair to ordinary working people. For too long people have felt they have been ignored on immigration and that politicians have not taken their concerns seriously enough.”
The proposals follow advice given in a report from the Migration Advisory Committee last month that recommended high-skilled workers are given priority over visa applications from low-skilled workers. A White Paper detailing how the new system will work will be published this autumn, ahead of an Immigration Bill next year. People arriving for a short stay will have their passports scanned at e-gates in airports, train stations and ports. Currently EU citizens get fast-tracked through e-gates while tourists or businessmen from countries like Japan and Australia have to queue for passport control, but under the new system all visitors will be treated the same.
Details of the scheme will be announced by Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, in his speech to the Conservative Party Conference today.
He will also announce that middleclass drug users could be confronted with the consequences of their habit in a crackdown on serious violence.
Mr Javid will order a review of drug misuse that focuses on how well-paid professionals who are “weekend cocaine users” are driving gang violence, knife crime and county lines abuse in an attempt to reverse the trend.
The evidence will be used to develop new policies that could include an awareness campaign linking drug use with the effect on vulnerable children involved in selling substances as well as stabbings and other crime, The Daily Telegraph understands.