Migrants from the European Union aged between 18 and 30 could be given 2-year visas to live and work in the United Kingdom after Brexit in plans from a Government-commissioned report.
The plans could include giving ‘preferential status’ to younger EU migrants, giving them more immigration “points”, which would increase the possibility of them being allowed to come to the UK, and a “lower salary threshold” for the amount they must earn before being allowed to settle, reports The Telegraph.
The release of this review comes in the same week that U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to cut legal, unskilled immigration by half and introduce ‘merit-based immigration reform’ that would prioritise the highly skilled and those who can speak English as part of Mr. Trump’s “America First” strategy.
The report, conducted by the Migration Advisory Committee and commissioned by ministers, says rights would be similar to the current EU Freedom of Movement rights – but could not be used to allow migrants to settle permanently.
It reads: “There are a number of reasons for this – younger migrants have a longer working life ahead of them so have a higher chance of making a net positive contribution to the public finances, and they are perhaps considered to assimilate more successfully.”
The study also examined the economic costs and benefits of migration from the bloc and looked at scenarios relating to border control. Under its assessment on regional schemes, it suggests offering migrants who want to live and work outside of London a lower salary threshold “to take into account regional variations in living costs and pay”, as well as a cap to be set on migrants coming to work in certain industries.
On Saturday, Breitbart London reported that the head of the third largest trade union has demanded the end of Free Movement. Last month, the head of the GMB dropped its long-standing opposition to Brexit, acknowledging that the “pay, terms, conditions and job security of British workers” had been “undercut” by Free Movement.
Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in July show that there are 1.3 million ‘EU8’ (Eastern and Central European) migrants living in the UK and that they work predominantly in low-skilled sectors.