A pro-Brexit lobby group that is backed by MPs including Iain Duncan Smith has called for the government to “scrap unskilled migration from the EU”.
Leave Means Leave has laid out plans for a new British work permit system that would focus on upskilling British people, particularly the 800,000 16-24 year olds who are currently “unemployed or inactive”.
To address the needs of the agricultural and horticultural sectors, the group said it would reinstate the seasonal agricultural workers (SAWS) scheme and allow a short-term sixth-month migration visa. While there would initially be a cap of 25,000, this would be reduced over time because the need for workers is likely to decrease as technology evolves, the group said.
According to the NFU, the British horticulture sector needs around 80,000 seasonal workers to pick and pack fruit, vegetable and plant crops across the country. This is expected to rise to 95,000 by 2021 based on growth projections.
The new system would help “cut net migration to mid-1990s levels”, according to Leave Means Leave, but while the group proposes to end low-skilled EU migration, it said there would be no cap on highly skilled and entrepreneurial migrants from the EU.
The new policy report was sent to the Home Office, the Department for Exiting the EU, as well as Number 10, and has the backing of several Tory MPs.
Former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith said: “This is a sensible set of proposals for a future immigration policy that the government should adopt.
“It would deliver on the Brexit mandate both to take back control of borders and bring down net levels of migration.”
Leave Means Leave board member and MP, David Jones, said:“The Leave Means Leave paper puts forward sensible immigration control policies that will safeguard the interests of EU nationals already resident in the UK while ensuring that business continues to obtain the supply of skilled labour that it needs.'
The work permit system currently used for non-EU countries would be used as a template for highly-skilled EU workers under the new system, meaning they would need the offer of a graduate level job paying a minimum of £30,000, a minimum level of English language, an appropriate amount of savings and evidence of a health insurance policy before admission to the UK.
EU nationals who arrived before Brexit should be able to apply for permanent residence after being in Britain for five years and if successful, would then be granted the same rights as those from outside the EU who have settled in Britain, according to the report.
The paper also calls for an upgrade to border force technology used to monitor those entering the UK, including ensuring data on entry and exit are linked up with the visa system as well as data on national insurance.
