EU referendum: Vote Leave sets out immigration plan – BBC News
The UK could have a “fairer, more humane” immigration system that would work better for the economy if it left the EU, leading Leave campaigners say.
Tories Michael Gove, Boris Johnson and Priti Patel, and Labour’s Gisela Stuart are calling for a points-based system for all migrants coming to the UK.
They say EU free movement rules have hit wages and strained public services.
The Remain campaign said the proposal would “wreck” the UK economy and could drive up immigration.
‘Create fairness’
Meanwhile, the TUC will publish research claiming average UK wages would be 38 a week lower by 2030 outside the EU, as part of its push to encourage people to vote to stay in on 23 June.
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BBC political correspondent Ben Wright said both sides of the campaign know the referendum result could hinge on lower-paid workers – many of them traditional Labour voters.
“The battle for this slice of the electorate could be crucial,” he added.
Immigration
The debate
- Total net migration to the UK is running at over 300,000 a year despite the governments target of cutting it to under 100,000
- The most recent official figures put net migration from EU countries at 184,000 a year and non-EU at 188,000
- EU citizens have the right to live and work in any member state
Leave
- It is impossible to control immigration as a member of the EU
- Public services are under strain because of the number of migrants
- High immigration has driven down wages for British workers
- The official figures underestimate the true level of migration
Remain
- Immigrants, especially those from the EU, pay more in taxes than they take out
- Cameron’s EU deal means in-work benefits for new EU migrant workers will be limited for the first four years
- Outside the EU the UK would still have to accept free movement to gain full access to the single market
- Immigration is good for the economy
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Immigration is one of the key battlegrounds in the EU referendum debate and it has been central to Vote Leave’s campaign in recent weeks.
A statement from Mr Johnson, Mr Gove, Ms Patel, and Ms Stuart has set out the blueprint for an immigration system, which would end the automatic right of EU citizens to come to live and work in the UK.
Instead, the right to come to the UK would be based on skills and a similar system currently operates for people from outside the EU who want to come to the UK.
The proposed system would not apply to Irish citizens or for EU citizens who are already lawfully resident in the UK.
Analysis, BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg
Image copyright Reuters On Wednesday, senior Outers will be on the road outlining how they claim they’d control immigration if we left the EU – by introducing a points system that would determine if people can come to live in Britain for every single wannabe immigrant.
The system is already in place for people who aren’t part of the EU, but currently, the country has no way of limiting the total numbers of people who want to come here from around the continent. It would be an enormous change, and a system they believe would get wide public support.
The Remainers are bound, though, to warn again of the risks of leaving the EU. If we’re out of the single market, so can leave behind the free movement of people, they’d argue the hit to the economy would be much more painful than any potential gains from controlling immigration.
In the statement, they said: “By the next general election, we will create a genuine Australian-style points-based immigration system.
“The automatic right of all EU citizens to come to live and work in the UK will end, as will EU control over vital aspects of our social security system.”
Under the proposed system, applications to live and work in the UK would be determined based on skills and qualifications “without discrimination on the ground of nationality”.
This would “create fairness between EU citizens and others” including those from Commonwealth countries, they said.
They added: “We think that this system will be fairer, more humane, and better for the economy.”
“We will welcome new citizens who wish to contribute to our society, as so many immigrants have done. And we will be able to remove those who abuse our hospitality.”
‘Disaster’
Britain Stronger In Europe, the official Remain campaign group, attacked Vote Leave’s proposal, saying it “will not work”.
Trade and economy
The debate
- About half of UK trade is conducted with the EU
- The EU single market allows the free movement of goods, services, capital and workers
- Trade negotiations with other parts of the world are conducted by the EU, not individual member states
Leave
- UK companies would be freed from the burden of EU regulation
- Trade with EU countries would continue because we import more from them than we export to them
- Britain would be able to negotiate its own trade deals with other countries
Remain
- Brexit would cause an economic shock and growth would be slower
- As a share of exports Britain is more dependent on the rest of the EU than they are on us
- The UK would still have to apply EU rules to retain access to the single market
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Executive director Will Straw said: “Vote Leave’s proposal could put up immigration and it would wreck our economy, as it involves leaving Europe’s single market.”
He added: “Australia, who have a points-based immigration system, have twice as many migrants per head as the UK.”
Mr Straw also said that exiting the EU’s single market would “lead to recession – costing jobs and raising prices”.
Meanwhile, the TUC is warning average earnings in Britain would be lower by 2030 outside the EU – adjusting wages for smaller GDP growth.
The study by the union also says employee rights and manufacturing jobs in particular would be hit.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “At a time of continuing hardship, Brexit would be a disaster for working people – for our wages, for our jobs and for our rights.
“38 a week may not be much for politicians like Boris Johnson, but for millions of workers, it’s the difference between heating or eating, between struggling or saving, and between getting by or getting on.”
Labour shadow business secretary Angela Eagle said Britain’s membership of the EU was “good for businesses and good for working people too”.
But Vote Leave’s Ms Stuart said the EU had been “a disaster” for workers, saying unemployment levels across the eurozone were “in the double digits”.
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