Britain says to pursue balanced post-Brexit immigration policy

[webfact]

Britain says to pursue balanced post-Brexit immigration policy

 

A tourist carrying a Union Flag umbrella walks in the rain during a spell of wet weather, next to The Tower of London, in London, Britain January 15, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will pursue a balanced policy on immigration once it has left the European Union by seeking to attract high-skilled workers while driving the overall numbers down, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said on Wednesday.

 

The Guardian newspaper published a leaked government document late on Tuesday detailing plans to drive down the number of lower-skilled EU workers coming to Britain once it has left the EU in 2019.

 

"We'll set out firm proposals later in the year," Fallon told Sky News. "There is a balance to be struck, we want to attract to this country, not shut the door, on highly skilled people who want to come here and make a contribution to our society.

 

"Equally we have to make sure that British companies are also prepared to train and train up British workers. The public are very clear, they want to see immigration not stopped but brought properly under control.

 

"They also want to be clear that we implement what they voted for in the Brexit referendum."

 

(Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-09-06

[7by7]

In short; post Brexit EEA nationals will be treated the same as non EEA nationals are now and if they want to come to the UK to work will have to obtain the appropriate visa; usually a Tier 2 (General) visa.

 

Of course, British nationals wishing to work in an EEA state will have to do likewise.

 

Which seems logical. If we leave the club we cannot expect to be free of all the responsibilities of membership but continue to enjoy all the benefits. Something some Brexiteers fail to understand!

 

I believe it is the status of British nationals already exercising a treaty right in another EEA state and EEA nationals doing the same in the UK which is of greater concern and needs to be decided upon without delay so those people know where they stand.

[dunroaming]

A great number of the EU citizens Britain needs are the low skilled workers who do the mundane jobs the British workers don't want to do.  Stupid falls to a new level.

[SheungWan]

1 hour ago, dunroaming said:

A great number of the EU citizens Britain needs are the low skilled workers who do the mundane jobs the British workers don't want to do.  Stupid falls to a new level.

Its not a new level, but point taken.

[RichardColeman]

1 hour ago, dunroaming said:

A great number of the EU citizens Britain needs are the low skilled workers who do the mundane jobs the British workers don't want to do.  Stupid falls to a new level.

Not stupid at all - get the 1.5 million able-bodies off their backside sat in front of the TV watching Jeremy Kyle inbetween playstation activity and heating the pizza up in the microwave. Far too long have people been allowed to sit on benefit when these jobs are available but they don't want to do them or are rejected from them. Give people a year - or 2 even - no found work , your given work in a low paid low skilled job if there are any nearby.

 

That said, I was on the dole for well over two years, due entirely to doing a previous job that needed a university degree if advertised - I started there 25 years earlier with only 6 o'levels from school  and worked up with hard work and toil - but could not find anything after. I was previously employed at so high a level that no low skilled would employ me and too low educated to do my own previous job of 25 years ! I'd have jumped at the chance of being given a low wage low skill job - but the agencies only wanted EU citizens. That's a reality facing people.

 

Note : I include my self in that sat on backside comment. After years of being rejected I gave up. Rented out my UK house and moved to Thailand !

 

[dunroaming]

27 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Not stupid at all - get the 1.5 million able-bodies off their backside sat in front of the TV watching Jeremy Kyle inbetween playstation activity and heating the pizza up in the microwave. Far too long have people been allowed to sit on benefit when these jobs are available but they don't want to do them or are rejected from them. Give people a year - or 2 even - no found work , your given work in a low paid low skilled job if there are any nearby.

I agree but that isn't going to happen and so you are left with all those industries that rely on cheaper EU workers going down the plughole.  I really relate to your post and have in the past (long ago) struggled to get work in the UK.  Mine was different in that I had a degree and the appropriate debts that went with it.  My fear at the time was that if I took a job picking crops or emptying bins then I wouldn't be able to get back to applying for something better.  I didn't sit on my backside but instead worked for a period for no money just to keep my options open.  In the end I ended up working for myself.

 

When I was a young boy Britain advertised in India for people to come to do the menial jobs that British people didn't want to do. Nothing is new here. 

[Sapporillo]

2 hours ago, dunroaming said:

A great number of the EU citizens Britain needs are the low skilled workers who do the mundane jobs the British workers don't want to do.  Stupid falls to a new level.

Right, the good old

"jobs that our domestic workers don't wanna do anymore"

-myth... Yes, I'm calling it a myth, it exists in every first world country and it's always used to explain the need for cheap foreign labor. The truth is, a lot of people would gladly take these jobs, IF they were paid a bit better (or a lot better, for some jobs). Isn't that how it should be working, in a free market? 

[dunroaming]

39 minutes ago, Sapporillo said:

Right, the good old

"jobs that our domestic workers don't wanna do anymore"

-myth... Yes, I'm calling it a myth, it exists in every first world country and it's always used to explain the need for cheap foreign labor. The truth is, a lot of people would gladly take these jobs, IF they were paid a bit better (or a lot better, for some jobs). Isn't that how it should be working, in a free market? 

If it is a myth then it certainly carries a lot of weight.  Every first world country subscribing to a myth?  Reality check needed I think

[terryw]

Completely logical to make UK companies try to higher Brits first. Do any of the EU27 try to higher other nationalities before their own?

[Khun Han]

30 minutes ago, terryw said:

Completely logical to make UK companies try to higher Brits first. Do any of the EU27 try to higher other nationalities before their own?

 

Not very much.  Though I found a (Spanish speaking) Russian receptionist in our hotel in Spain last week.

[dunroaming]

25 minutes ago, terryw said:

Completely logical to make UK companies try to higher Brits first. Do any of the EU27 try to higher other nationalities before their own?

I known that Thailand isn't in the EU but over thirteen years I built several properties there and as much as I tried I couldn't find Thais who were willing or capable of doing the work whereas the Burmese were on the whole skillful, reliable, hard working and less likely to steal the materials!

 

In business you employ the people who apply for the jobs and who will do the work.  It is not always about the money.

[dunroaming]

2 minutes ago, Khun Han said:

 

Not very much.  Though I found a (Spanish speaking) Russian receptionist in our hotel in Spain last week.

The cleaners at our hotel in Menorca last week were Hungarian.  Not sure about their Spanish but their English was OK.

[Khun Han]

1 minute ago, dunroaming said:

The cleaners at our hotel in Menorca last week were Hungarian.  Not sure about their Spanish but their English was OK.

 

I always make a point of befriending the housekeepers in hotels (it usually improves the practicals of the stay}. The ones in Spanish hotels are almost invariably Spanish (as are most of the other staff). The ones in British hotels are usually foreign (as are most of the other staff).

[nausea]

Headline on BBC UK News:

 

"Firms that rely on EU workers have warned of the 'catastrophic' impact of proposals to slash unskilled migration on the day Britain leaves the EU".

[FreddieRoyle]

I'd advocate something based very closely on the Thai immigration policies. Anybody working, paying their taxes, fully complying to each and every whim of immigration officers can stay under short term licenses - but no need for visa runs - Calais is way to dangerous to force people to visit. Overstay the visa by a day and out you go, with a 5 year blacklist.

 

 Thailand has successfully avoided having millions of freeloaders sucking at the teets of the Thai taxpayer. When I discus British immigration policies with Thais they think Brits are completely bonkers. Why do you need millions of people that actively hate your people and culture, and adamantly refuse to work, living in free houses eating free foods and dividing your native populations along ideological lines. It's hard to explain it all I will admit.

[eliotness]

Yet more biased reporting from the press.  The Guardian and Reuters joining together to feed us more pro EU "news".

[Caps]

As someone who voted out, I will say that think immigration is good for the country.  However I also believe that it should be controlled by that said country

I can also agree that there a lot of useless w ankers who won't get of their behind and do some of the jobs that people come here to do.  

But a lot of countries do seasonal workers visas so there is no reason why the UK could not do this.  That way the fruit and veg industry get their pickers (to name but one),  the workers from the EU get to come and earn money to send home for their families and the idle folk can still sit at home drinking tenants super strength and smoking 40 a day living off their benefits.

[Sapporillo]

22 minutes ago, Caps said:

As someone who voted out, I will say that think immigration is good for the country.  However I also believe that it should be controlled by that said country

I can also agree that there a lot of useless w ankers who won't get of their behind and do some of the jobs that people come here to do.  

But a lot of countries do seasonal workers visas so there is no reason why the UK could not do this.  That way the fruit and veg industry get their pickers (to name but one),  the workers from the EU get to come and earn money to send home for their families and the idle folk can still sit at home drinking tenants super strength and smoking 40 a day living off their benefits.

One of the big problems are the social insurances and subsidised health care systems in countries such as the UK, Germany, France, Switzerland etc.... Since quite a few EU citizens live in countries where such insurances are very weak or don't exist at all, they have an incentive to immigrate (and stay) even if there's no demand for their particular skill. As far as I know, there are just two countries in the world (Australia and Canada) where the government actively manages immigration by letting in only people with skills that match their demand, but IMO, this system should be used much more.

[7by7]

18 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

<snip>

Not stupid at all - get the 1.5 million able-bodies off their backside sat in front of the TV watching Jeremy Kyle inbetween playstation activity and heating the pizza up in the microwave.

 There are approximately 2.1 million EU nationals working in the UK (source), so even if those 1.5 million able bodied unemployed Brits were to get 'off their backsides' there would still be a labour shortage if those EEA nationals were forced to leave post Brexit.

[7by7]

15 hours ago, terryw said:

Completely logical to make UK companies try to higher Brits first. Do any of the EU27 try to higher other nationalities before their own?

 As all EU members, plus all EEA members and Switzerland, are subject to the freedom of movement directive, then the same rules apply in those countries as in the UK.

 

My experience of UK employers, both as an employee and a jobseeker, isn't that British employers choose EU, EEA or Swiss nationals over British nationals; they employ anyone who applies, can legally work in the UK and is suitable. I have no reason to suspect that it is different in any EU member, EEA member or Switzerland; unless you can provide evidence to the contrary.

 

Whilst many of the British citizens living in another EU country are retired, an estimated 800,000  of them are workers or the dependents of workers (source). 

 

[7by7]

9 hours ago, Sapporillo said:

<snip>

As far as I know, there are just two countries in the world (Australia and Canada) where the government actively manages immigration by letting in only people with skills that match their demand, but IMO, this system should be used much more.

 Add the UK to your list. As I said in post no.2, anyone from outside the EU, EEA or Switzerland who wishes to work in the UK usually needs a Tier 2 (General) visa. 

Quote

1. Overview

You can apply for a Tier 2 (General) visa if:

• you’ve been offered a skilled job in the UK
• you’re from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland

Getting sponsored

You need to be employed by a licensed sponsor to apply to live in the UK.

Your sponsor checks that you can do the job they’re hiring you for and if it qualifies you for a visa. They’ll assign you a certificate of sponsorship to prove this.

They must also give you other information you need when you apply, for example how much you’ll be paid.

 

Whether or not EU, EEA and Swiss nationals will be subject to this post Brexit depends on whether or not any exit deal reached involves the UK, like Switzerland, agreeing to remain subject to the freedom of movement directive.