Post-Brexit UK will be open to skilled workers

Shake-up would be biggest overhaul of the immigration system in 40 years

The British government has said the United Kingdom will welcome migrants from all nations after it leaves the European Union, instead of favoring unskilled workers from EU countries, as it does now.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid controversially also said on Wednesday that the Conservative government will no longer set immigration targets. Previously, it had pledged to cut immigration into the country from several hundred thousand a year to "tens of thousands".

During Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons later in the day, Prime Minister Theresa May chipped in by saying the government will, in fact, still aim to limit overall immigration to the tens of thousands.

The proposed new rules are unlikely to come into effect until 2021.

Javid told BBC Radio 4's Today program the new system "will be a single, skills-based immigration system built around the talent and expertise people can bring, rather than where they come from - maximizing the benefits of immigration and demonstrating the UK is open for business".

He disputed the suggestion that the UK economy needs cheap, unskilled workers from EU countries for the hospitality, agriculture and construction sectors and insisted immigration should not be "a burden on our communities or infrastructure".

The proposed shake-up would be the biggest overhaul of the immigration system for 40 years.

Under the new rules, the government would scrap the 20,700 maximum on the number of skilled workers allowed into the country each year, making five-year work visas available to high-skilled people offered jobs that pay in excess of 30,000 pounds ($37,950) a year. Low-skilled workers would only qualify for one-year visas.

British business leaders, meanwhile, urged the UK Parliament to ensure the nation leaves the EU at the end of March in an orderly way and with a withdrawal deal in place.

May's proposed Brexit deal has been criticized by members of Parliament from all sides and appears to stand little chance of being approved next month.

But the British Chambers of Commerce issued a joint statement with the Confederation of British Industry, the Institute of Directors, the Federation of Small Businesses and the manufacturers' lobby group EEF, urging politicians to stop infighting and focus on supporting a deal with the EU. They said leaving without one would be catastrophic.

"Businesses have been watching in horror as politicians have focused on factional disputes, rather than practical steps that business needs to move forward," the statement said.

"The lack of progress in Westminster means that the risk of a no-deal Brexit is rising."

The warning from the groups that represent hundreds of thousands of enterprises was issued after May and her Cabinet met to prepare for a no-deal Brexit.

The politicians decided to send out letters to 140,000 businesses, advising them to plan for a no-deal scenario and will issue a 100-page no-deal information pack.

Ministers also agreed to make 3,500 armed forces personnel available to deal with post-Brexit problems, and allocated an extra 2 billion pounds for Brexit expenses.

The business groups said last-minute no-deal planning was not what was wanted.

"It is clear there is simply not enough time to prevent severe dislocation and disruption in just 100 days," their statement said. "This is not where we should be."

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(China Daily 12/20/2018 page12)