UK to crack down on low-skilled EU migrants post-Brexit - Home Office leak

The government is planning to reduce the number of low-skilled EU workers in the UK post-Brexit, according to a leaked document from the Home Office.

In the detailed policy document obtained by The Guardian, it also states that the government may have powers to refuse entry to EU citizens.

A cap may also be introduced on the amount of workers from the EU permitted to take up legal residence in Britain.

The document is dated August 2017, and was marked as ‘extremely sensitive’.

“To be considered valuable to the country as a whole, immigration should benefit not just the migrants themselves but also make existing residents better off,” the paper says.

The document also sets out a phased introduction to a new immigration system where the majority of European migrants will lose their automatic right to live and work in the UK.

TWO YEARS

Those immigrants in highly-skilled occupations have been earmarked for a longer permission to stay in the UK, as much as five years while low-skilled workers will only have a period of two years.

"We are minded to grant those in highly skilled occupations and who have a contract of employment of more than 12 months, a permit lasting three to five years. For those in other occupations, it may be up to two years."

Cabinet ministers have yet to approve the detailed arrangements set out in the paper, and it is unclear whether it will be approved in its current form.

The Confederation of British Industry responded to the leaked document by calling on the government to maintain an ‘open but managed’ approach to immigration post-Brexit.

"An open approach to our closest trading partners is vital for business, as it attracts investment to the UK. And, with employment high, it also helps keep our economy moving by addressing key skill and labour shortages,” said the CBI’s Neil Carberry.

"Businesses will look for the Government's final position paper to support an open but managed approach to immigration.”