Cap urged on number of skilled migrants after Brexit

A CAP should be placed on the number of skilled workers coming to the UK after Brexit to prevent further sharp rises in migration, says a study by campaign group Migration Watch.

It warned that easing visa restrictions on the numbers, qualifications and salary levels of skilled migrants from both the EU and non-eu countries would undermine Boris Johnson’s and Home Secretary Priti Patel’s pledges to cut immigration after Brexit.

It urged them to resist demands to remove limits on work permits for skilled workers as part of their plans for an Australian-style points-based immigration system, a move that was mooted by Sajid Javid when he was home secretary.

Migration Watch said the Government should also reject proposals for the qualifications’ threshold for skilled workers to be reduced from graduate level to A-level and for the salary limit to be cut from £31,000 to £21,000 as demanded by some employers’ groups.

It said allowing such changes would expose between six and nine million UK jobs to new or increased global competition as companies sought cheaper skilled workers from abroad.

As an alternative, it proposed an annual cap on the number of skilled workers’ visas, a policy it said was supported by 71 per cent of the public in a Deltapoll survey in November.

Migration Watch suggested it could be set below 75,000 a year and potentially at 50,000 for EU and non-eu skilled migrants, which would meet the needs of industry while achieving the aim of reducing immigration.

It also recommended suspending specific schemes to bring in low-skilled migrants except for seasonal agricultural workers, which was recently increased to 10,000 a year.