End favourable immigration status for EU citizens, recommends UK advisory body

Workers from the EU should be treated no differently from immigrants from elsewhere in the world after Brexit, a major new report has recommended.

The independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), commissioned by former Home Secretary Amber Rudd to explore options for the UK Government’s post-Brexit immigration policy, also said highly skilled workers should find it easier to get a British visa.

This would mean lifting the cap on the number of employer-sponsored Tier 2 visas.

The report also recommends maintaining a single migration policy across all nations of the UK.

MAC chair Professor Alan Manning said: “The MAC’s core recommendation is for the UK to be more open to skilled workers from around the world and to limit access to low-skilled workers.

“High-skilled workers bring clear benefits to the UK economy and should be actively encouraged."

The UK Government has said it will “carefully consider” the proposals.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "The government is clear that EU citizens play an important and positive role in our economy and society and we want that to continue after we leave."

Scotland’s migration minister Ben Macpherson said support for a separate immigration system for Scotland was “overwhelming”.

“This report will also be deeply disappointing to businesses and employers across Scotland who asked for a simple, low cost approach to migration which took into account the requirements of their sectors,” he said.

“Instead the MAC proposes a system which completely ignores a significant number of employers in sectors integral to Scotland’s economy such as tourism, agriculture and forestry, and fails to address their major concerns about current and future access to workforce.”

Labour welcomed the report, suggesting it could “end discrimination” felt by non-EU migrants.

Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbot said: “Labour has said that our immigration policy needs to be based on our economic needs, while meeting our legal obligations and treating people fairly – which means ending the discrimination against non-EU migrants, especially from the Commonwealth.

“This is not what we get from the Tories, the party of bargaining chips, Go Home vans, and the hostile environment.”

Currently 20,700 high-skilled workers from non-EU countries are granted Tier 2 visas in the UK.