A post-Brexit immigration system should clamp down on low skilled
EU immigration but adopt a lighter touch approach for
professionals, argues Policy Exchange’s Head of Demography,
Immigration and Integration, David Goodhart, in a new
paper Immigration After
Brexit.
As Britain considers its long term immigration needs, there is
scope to maintain a high level of continuity for groups such as
EU students and tourists. There should be a customised “light
touch” work permit system for EU professionals and — as Britain
weans itself off low skilled migration — there should be priority
for low skilled workers ready to work antisocial hours, thereby
acting more as complements than direct competitors to the British
workforce. The paper argues that:
- To deliver on Brexit, future immigration policy must bear
down on low skilled migration
- Openness and continuity should prevail in other areas.
Visa-free travel should continue for short visits from the EU and
conditions should remain broadly the same for tourists and
students – including the same tuition fee arrangements for EU as
for UK students.
- Three new temporary channels should be opened up: the Youth
Mobility Scheme which allows 18-30 year olds from countries like
Australia and New Zealand to work in the UK for two years should
be extended to young EU citizens; the Seasonal Agricultural
Workers Scheme should be revived for agriculture and
horticulture; and the intra-company transfer scheme should be
extended to EU companies.
- The Migration Advisory Committee should work with industries
that have become heavily dependent on low skilled EU workers to
help manage the transition to lower dependence.
- Businesses which slashed their training budgets for domestic
workers when Eastern European labour became available in the
mid-2000s should prioritise the development of domestic talent.
- EU citizens coming to the UK for employment should in future
need work permits, with a presumption of five years for
professionals and two years for low skilled workers. Low skilled
workers ready to apply for “antisocial hours visas” should be
given priority.
- Under a special “light touch” employer-led work permit scheme
for EU professionals, the Home Office should guarantee to approve
such permits in less than a month.
- As a gesture of goodwill, EU citizens coming to the UK for an
extended period in the future should qualify for full social
rights earlier than non-EU citizens, who must wait five years.
This should be reviewed as the UK considers its future
immigration policy as it ‘pivots to the world’.
- The Home Office must invest more in hiring extra staff at
Border Force and UK Visas and Immigration in order to deal with
the greater workload of processing more work permits.
David Goodhart said:
“A Brexit without a clear end to free movement in its current
form is neither possible nor desirable as it was clearly one of
the biggest single factors behind the Brexit vote.
“One of the problems with freedom of movement is that it has
created a new category of resident: someone who is neither a
temporary visitor, such as a tourist, nor someone who is making a
permanent commitment to a new country in the manner of the
traditional immigrant. Many of those taking advantage of free
movement in recent years have enjoyed the rights of the latter
with the attitude of the former.
“Whilst we welcome an end to freedom of movement, a good
post-Brexit immigration deal should maintain a lot of continuity
in the movement of people, especially for students and
professionals, and we can open up several new temporary work
routes. There’s no reason for arrangements to change around
tourists and students from the EU, but we do need to see a
general reduction in the number of low skilled workers.
“The government, in partnership with industry and the Migration
Advisory Committee, needs to set out how they will gradually
reduce low skilled immigration from the EU, whilst maintaining a
route for workers coming to do jobs with antisocial hours.”
