PM agrees to MAC’s global high-skilled workers proposals, not just EU workers
The Prime Minister has committed to acting on a Migration Advisory Committee recommendation that EU citizens will not benefit from preferential treatment over non-EU people once the UK ends EU free movement post-Brexit.
The BBC reports PM Theresa May has committed to high-skilled workers being prioritised post-Brexit with no preferential treatment for people from the EU compared with those from the rest of the world.
The cabinet agreed to the committee’s recommendations last week, while a White Paper setting out the details is set for the autumn.
Under the proposals:
- The passports of short-stay tourists and business people from all ‘low-risk’ countries would be scanned at e-gates – currently only EU citizens can do this
- Security and criminal records checks would be carried out ahead of visits, similar to the system of prior authorisation in the US
- Workers wishing to stay for longer periods would need a minimum salary, to ‘ensure they are not competing with people already in the UK’
- Successful applicants for high-skilled work can bring their immediate family, but only if sponsored by their future employers
- The new system will not cap the number of student visas.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, May said free movement would end “once and for all” once the UK leaves the EU.
When asked whether exemptions would be made for industries requiring high levels of unskilled labour, she said the plan would recognise “the further needs of the economy” but that there would not be “lots of exemptions” for different sectors.
The new system would aim to bring net migration to “sustainable levels”, she promised – defined as being below 100,000, a target the Tories set years ago.
Also commenting on the PM’s proposals, Stephen Jennings, partner and solicitor at law firm Tozers Solicitors, told Recruiter that while the proposals send a clear signal about the intended direction of travel, agencies should be cautious about placing too much reliance on details.
“Certain statements (such as removing the preferential status currently given to EU workers) seem designed merely to set out a bargaining position and much may change before any of these proposals become law.”
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