-Back to immigration talks while clock ticks for Brexit
While London still remains the biggest global financial center, the future of Brexit negotiations still remains unclear. The third round of Brexit talks at the end of August was deemed “fruitless” as the U.K. and EU could not agree even on a single issue. The Labor Party came up with the idea that the country could remain in the single market while leaving the EU. Even though this reflects a more constructive plan for the future of the U.K., their biggest competitors in international markets - Germany and France - are unlikely to accept this “easy exit” strategy.
On the political arena, Prime Minister Theresa May is working to resolve the increasingly evident cabinet disagreements following the recent leaks of Brexit talks and proposals. As May won the general election but lost the majority, Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn appears comfortable to “wait and see” while the Brexit clock is ticking for the Conservative government.
Former Labor Prime Minister Tony Blair said there should be a “renewed sense of mission” to fight against Brexit while suggesting the imposition of tougher restrictions on immigration without leaving the bloc.
Speaking on BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show, Blair said: “If for example, the anxiety is downward pressure on wages as a result of an influx of EU migrants coming and doing work, say in the construction industry, we have it within our power to deal with that through domestic legislation.”
Once again immigration issues are becoming the hot topic of the Brexit talks despite the fact that the majority of research undertaken reveals that immigrants contribute to the U.K. economy more than what they receive in social benefits and health care through the National Health Service (NHS). However, for now, politicians seem to enjoy surfing on the rising waves of ultra nationalism.
According to a University College London (UCL) report on Fullfact.org, although there has been a fiscal cost for immigration overall, recent immigrants who arrived since 2000 made much greater financial contributions than longer-established immigrants.
The report estimated net fiscal impacts of +£5 billion for recent immigrants from the ten countries that joined the EU in 2004 (A10 countries) and +£15.3 billion for other recent European Economic Area (EEA) migrants (EU14 countries). The study also found that while A10 migrants worked mostly in lower wage occupations, they were also more likely to be employed, offsetting the impact of their lower wages. Recent non-EEA migrants had an estimated impact of +£5.2 billion. However, the contribution of each group fluctuated over the period.
According to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) May 2016 report, recently arrived EEA nationals –those who arrived within the previous four years – received £0.56 billion in tax credits and Child Benefit in the 2013/14 fiscal year but paid £3.11 billion in income taxes and national insurance contributions.
Despite concerns over “access to the single market”, immigration remains the main issue on the government’s agenda. According to a Home Office document leaked to the Guardian, Britain will end the free movement of labor immediately after Brexit and introduce restrictions to deter all but highly skilled EU workers.
The 82-page paper says, “Put plainly, this means that to be considered valuable to the country as a whole, immigration should benefit not just the migrants themselves but also make existing residents better off.”
However, even “highly skilled migrants” might not feel safe in choosing the U.K. while other English speaking countries - Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the U.S are seeking to attract skilled immigrants. EU and non-EU nationals consider many factors before planning to move to a new country, including the environment and how welcoming it is, job security, employee rights, security on the status of stay, access to education and health care among others. However, the recent talks on curbing immigration have impacted highly skilled workers and their desire to come to or remain in the U.K.
The number of EU nationals registering as nurses in England has dropped by 92 percent since the Brexit referendum in June, and a record number are quitting the NHS, according to the Guardian. Only 96 nurses joined the NHS from other European nations in December 2016 – a drop from 1,304 in July, the month after the referendum. At the same time, freedom of information responses compiled by the Liberal Democrats from 80 of the 136 NHS acute trusts in England shows that 2,700 EU nurses left the health service in 2016, compared to 1,600 EU nurses in 2014 – a 68 percent increase.
The figures clearly show that immigration legislation should be carefully considered and discussed as part of the Brexit process, as opposed to resorting to quick and reckless decisions in cabinet meetings behind closed doors.
