Spring 2019 Summary: It is vital that post-Brexit changes to the immigration system help to restore public confidence in border control and also deliver a significant reduction in immigration levels. Proposals in the Immigration White Paper to loosen the Tier 2 (General) route for skilled workers are very concerning. Reliance on immigration is not the optimal means […]
The government has consistently said that it will do everything in its power to avoid a hardening of the Irish border whatever the circumstances (although it has also been argued that, in the event of a no deal Brexit, a ‘hard border would be inevitable’). The government said in December 2018 that British / Irish […]
Summary: Freedom of movement to the UK would continue during any extension period. EU net migration has averaged 80,000 per year since the Referendum. The extension of Article 50 may substitute for the transition period. However, as Martin Howe QC has argued, unlike during the transition period (during which free movement would also continue), the […]
Summary: Depending on the primary salary threshold for skilled workers that is finally implemented as part of the post-Brexit immigration system, between 6.2 million and up to 8.8 million full-time jobs held by UK-born employees would be exposed to the potential for new or much increased global recruitment. This is based on analysis of the number of full-time […]
The Prime Minister’s Withdrawal Deal If the UK leaves the European Union with the Prime Minister’s withdrawal deal, free movement for EU workers will come to an end after a transition period. Nearly four million EU citizens who are already here, as well as those who arrive in the UK prior to the end of […]
Iranians who claim asylum have a more than 95% chance of staying on, legally or otherwise Only 182 failed Iranian asylum applicants are removed or depart each year despite 925 asylum rejections per annum (including after appeal) The British asylum system is less stringent than the one in France The UK needs to address the fact […]
The proposal to admit an unlimited number of low-skilled workers from a range of countries is astonishing. A validity ‘limited to twelve months’ could well become a means of fiddling the immigration figures since they do not count as migrants unless they intend to be here for more than a year. Furthermore, there is no way in which their […]
Summary On 23 November, the Daily Telegraph reported on leaked Cabinet papers which reveal that the Government has drawn up plans to introduce an 11-month visa for low-skilled workers to come to the UK. This proposal runs counter to the economic advice of the government’s own Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) and will be seen as […]
The UK Government should make it clear that it will not sign the prospective United Nations ‘Global Compact on Migration for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration’. If they have any regard for their election promises it would be entirely hypocritical to do so. The accord would commit signatories to the goal of ‘enhanc[ing] availability and flexibility of pathways […]
Summary Under the terms of the draft UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement, (published on 14 November 2018), the rights of EU nationals resident in the UK to bring in family members will exceed those of their British neighbours after Brexit day in March 2019 in the following respects: Those who arrive prior to end of the transition period will […]