‘Immigration and Scotland’ Summary points: Scotland’s labour force is much less dependent on migrant workers than most of the rest of the UK. The majority of EU migrants in Scotland are employed in lower skilled jobs. A sample of Scottish employers and industry representatives found that they were ‘emphatic’ that Scotland’s employment needs are not different from the rest of the UK, apart from […]
Commenting, Lord Green of Deddington, Chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: “This is a sensible and satisfactory outcome. Importantly, it will not prevent us from achieving a substantial reduction in net migration from the EU once we have left. That must now be the focus of the government’s efforts.” Note to editors: Our view is […]
A comment on Lord Green’s article in Conservative Home on 20 November 2017 about the relevance of an EEA style arrangement for post-Brexit immigration from the EU made no attempt to address the argument. Instead, it contained the following abusive content: “It is perfectly fine and welcome to have rigorous debate about this topic, but […]
Our estimate Last week’s ONS biannual population projections assumed, in their principal projection, net migration of 165,000. However we regard that as extremely unlikely unless the UK succeeds in taking advantage of Brexit to reduce EU migration by about 100,000 from its peak by cutting out migration into lower-skilled work as we have proposed. Otherwise, […]
Introduction 1. The Government has commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee to weigh the evidence about the costs and benefits of EEA immigration. We believe that the evidence is clear: that while some immigration is beneficial to the UK, uncontrolled free movement from the EU is not. Our arguments are summarised below. The current pattern of EU […]
Speaking to the Confederation of British Industry, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said the free movement of people should continue after Brexit. He has also proposed that the UK’s non-EU immigration rules be loosened – for instance through a lengthening of current post-study work arrangements for international students. In the Mayor’s words: “It’s […]
This week our Chairman Lord Green of Deddington wrote an article for Conservative Home arguing that claims made by businesses that they need continued net inflows of migrants from the EU must be scrutinised by government. The full article is below. Do we really need yet more EU workers? By Lord Green of Deddington As […]
The government is reportedly considering post-Brexit immigration proposals that would end free movement rules immediately upon the UK’s departure from the EU while gradually bringing in measures to reduce the number of lower-skilled European migrants. However, in an article published on 9th September, Mr Blair argues that ending the free movement of people in order […]
Jonathan Portes has falsely accused Migration Watch UK of lying. Professor Portes is wrong and his accusation is false. This is a familiar tactic of his when he disagrees with or disapproves of any argument. As historian Niall Ferguson wrote in a powerful Spectator article in 2015, he seeks, ‘to undermine an irrefutable argument by […]
Summary: As well as summarising three key areas of disagreement over the rights of EU nationals in the UK and vice versa that have arisen during the first two rounds of Brexit negotiations in June and July, this paper highlights eight other objections that have been made to the UK’s offer (published on 26th June), along […]