Further control and restriction of immigration into Britain was the cornerstone of the ‘Leave’ campaign’s promises during the Brexit referendum of 2016, which resulted in a narrow majority of 52-48% voting for the UK to leave the EU.
Yet, six years on, overall immigration to the UK has increased since it left the bloc and ended free movement in 2020. Some 573,000 people migrated into the UK in the year ending June 2021, and those numbers are likely to keep increasing.
The ‘Leave’ campaign’s promise to reduce immigration to tens of thousands per year is a long way away.
The UK’s new tech visa scheme, announced this week, is the latest programme allowing businesses to sponsor high-skill tech workers for a two-year stay as it seeks to plug a digital skills gap.
To qualify, businesses must demonstrate year-on-year growth of at least 20% in either employment or turnover for at least three years. They will also need to have employed at least 10 people since the start of that three-year period.
The new reality has not been so bleak for many, including this reporter, who feared ending freedom of movement meant pulling up Britannia’s drawbridge.
The government’s new immigration requirements have introduced a points-based system and a high minimum income requirement.
That means that roughly half the jobs in the UK labour market – broadly those requiring medium and high-level skills and paying more than £20,000 to £35,000 a year – are open to those coming from abroad if they have a qualifying job offer.
The first year of the new system has seen a significant rise in work visa issues compared to pre-pandemic levels, particularly in the health sector, and an even more substantial rise in the number of international student visas.
The new migration system does represent a very significant tightening of controls on EU migration compared to free movement.
The number of EU citizens in the UK has fallen dramatically. Around 43,000 EU citizens received visas for work, family or study in 2021, compared to the annual figure of between 230,000 and 430,000 who came to work and study in the UK in each of the six years before it left the EU, according to the UK’s Office for National Statistics.
Conversely, the new regime does represent a considerable liberalisation for non-EU migrants, with lower salary and skill thresholds and no overall cap on numbers.
That has prompted some concern among Conservative lawmakers, with Neil O’Brien accusing Boris Johnson’s government of “liberalising non-EU migration”.
There is no indication, however, that either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak, the two candidates vying to replace Johnson after he steps down in September, will row back on immigration policy.
Nor is there any sign that Britons want immigration controls to be tighter and a cap on numbers imposed.
A recent poll by British Future has suggested that 53% believe that immigrant skills and labour are essential to the UK’s economic recovery, compared to 24% in 2012.
Brexiteers may not like it, but this is what “taking back control” looks like.
The Roundup
While inflation eats away at the purchasing power of European workers, the largest European companies have considerably increased the sums they paid out to shareholders in the second quarter of 2022.
Liz Truss, the frontrunner in the race to replace Boris Johnson as UK Prime Minister, is poised to trigger Article 16, suspending the Northern Ireland protocol, as one of her government’s first acts.
Spain, Portugal and Germany have revived talks on the MidCat gas pipeline project linking the Iberian Peninsula with France, but Paris remains reluctant, calling the project’s future into question.
No more ironing, limited oven use and showering at work – Europeans are trying to keep their energy use down but the bills keep climbing.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is steering his pacifist SPD party through precedent-breaking arms shipments for Ukraine after Russia’s invasion, has been called on to engage in a diplomatic offensive by lawmakers.
Turkey’s finance minister told businesses on Friday they should not be concerned by the threat of sanctions that Washington warns will follow if they do business with sanctioned Russians.
Turks applying for visas to the 26 Schengen countries are increasingly being rejected, data shows, and tours are being cancelled. Ankara said this week it was a deliberate effort to put President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a difficult position ahead of tight elections next year, a charge the European Union denies.
In other news, high temperatures coincide with increased suicide rates, a study published by the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research on Wednesday (24 August) reads, confirming other EU studies on the topic.
The harvest season has started early in most European vineyards, following an unprecedented summer of heatwaves and droughts. Conditions have brought mixed fortunes for producers, with some vines experiencing heat stress and others thriving due to lower disease rates.
Look out for…
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers address at plenary session on European affairs in Taizé, France, on Saturday.
- High Representative Josep Borrell participates in panel discussion on ‘Crises: Failing to See the Long-Term Wood for the Short-Term Trees?’ at the European Forum Alpbach on Sunday.
- Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers keynote address at Bled Strategic Forum, meets with Slovenia’s PM and president on Monday.
Views are the author’s.
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic/Alice Taylor]
Source: euractiv.com
