Leaked Home Office paper marks the end of the age of open borders
... and it looks like progress.
An 82-page document catchily titled Border, Immigration and Citizenship System After the UK Leaves the European Union suggests that a defining change in government policy is on the way.
● A phased introduction to a new immigration system that ends the automatic right for EU nationals to live and work in Britain.
● Mandatory passport checks for all EU nationals visiting Britain. Currently they can use national identity cards.
● Curbs on the number of low-skilled migrants from EU countries and two year limits on visas.
● New rules for high skilled workers that will mean visas of only three to five years.
● Restrictions on the right to bring family members to settle alongside them. EU nationals wanting to bring in a spouse, they will have to earn at least £18,600 - the same controversial rules imposed on non-EU nationals.
● New ‘right to work’ checks that will have to be carried out by employers.
● Employers could be forced to search for new recruits in Britain already before employing from abroad.
Dated last month and marked “Extremely sensitive”, the document has not been agreed by Cabinet and could, therefore, be significantly changed before the formal policy is announced. But this is the first time in four parliaments that a vaguely normal posture on immigration has even been spoken of within government. Of course, the bigger question for nationalists is what will happen now with non-EU immigration. Logically, the treatment should be stricter. Do they have the guts?
