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BRITAIN-EU-BREXIT-IMMIGRATION
UK govt ‘agrees not to favour EU workers after Brexit’
LONDON, Sept 25, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet has
agreed that EU citizens should not have preferential access to work in
Britain compared to people from elsewhere after Brexit, media reports said
Tuesday.
Ministers gathering on Monday “unanimously supported a system based on
skills rather than nationality”, an unnamed source told the BBC, with similar
reports in The Times and The Guardian.
Citizens from the other 27 European Union member states are currently free
to live and work in Britain under the bloc’s freedom of movement rules, but
this will end after Brexit.
A government-commissioned report last week recommended that in future, EU
and non-EU citizens follow the same immigration rules, with preference given
to high-skilled workers.
The report’s author, Alan Manning of the Migration Advisory Committee,
briefed the cabinet meeting on Monday on his plan.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said: “The cabinet agreed that, once free
movement is brought to an end, the government will be able to introduce a new
system which works in the best interests of the UK, including by helping to
boost productivity.”
May is now expected to make an announcement on future immigration rules at
her Conservative party’s conference next week, before likely introducing
proposals later this year.
However, any post-Brexit immigration policy could be affected by Britain’s
future trade deals.
The EU may well seek to negotiate continued preferential treatment in
return for access to its single market, while other countries could also seek
visa waivers in return for trade deals.
May promised last week that even if Brexit negotiations with the EU break
down, the rights of Europeans currently living in Britain “will be
protected”.
Her spokesman said there would be formal proposals published “shortly”.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1402 hrs