Leaked paper details British plans to limit European Union migrants after Brexit

LEAKED Home Office documents show Britain plans to end free movement of labour the day after the United Kingdom leaves Europe in 2019.

“The Government need to show that Britain is open to those who want to come here to work hard and contribute”.

Theresa May has defended the idea of new controls on European Union nationals in the wake of a leaked document outlining proposed tough post-Brexit immigration plans, saying they would help protect United Kingdom wages, The Guardian writes.

The letter goes on: “As business leaders, we have a duty to our shareholders and employees to continue to grow our businesses and ensure that they remain strong”.

Industry body the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) said that access to European workers is one of the sector’s four key priorities in the Brexit negotiations, alongside worldwide trade, regulatory stability and domestic support.

It also suggests redefining reunion rules to restrict the number of EU citizens’ family members who want to come and reside in the country, signaling that rulings by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on family reunion matters will no longer be binding.

In a statement he said: “The government’s plans for an extreme form of hard Brexit have been revealed tonight in a leaked Home Office document”.

Employers would need to concentrate on recruiting locally and any European Union national would need permission before they took up a job.

“I am reassured on the fact it has been presented as a draft and I am reassured that some members of Government did not even read the document”.

Under the propositions, lower-skilled migrants will be granted a maximum two-year residency, while migrants deemed to have higher skills would be allowed to reside in the United Kingdom for three to five years.

The proposals by the Government drew criticism from some Labour MPs – with one calling the plan “plainly cruel” – while some business associations anxious about the possible impact on industries that are especially reliable on migrant workers, such as catering and retail.

– Leaked document would have weakened Britain’s resolve at the negotiation table in EU Parliament.

Home Affairs Select Committee chairwoman Yvette Cooper said the document seemed to contradict the home secretary’s decision just over a month ago to ask the Migration Advisory Committee to provide all the evidence to underpin a new immigration policy.

Her Brexit minister, David Davis, also urged lawmakers to speak out if they felt that any rights were not carried forward into British law by the bill, a challenge to the main opposition Labour Party which has said it can not support the legislation without it being amended to better protect workers’ rights. Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the Green Party, criticized the plan as not “just economically illiterate, it’s plainly cruel too”, while London Mayor Sadiq Khan said it was “a blueprint on how to strangle our economy”.

Criteria for residence will include “basic proof of employment/self employment” and, to protect against identity fraud, may include taking the finger prints of new arrivals.

“The report discusses implementing measures to drive down the number of low-skilled migrants from Europe but it does not reference a seasonal work permit scheme for seasonal labour”.

United Kingdom employers should first seek to hire British people, the paper proposes.

The UK prime minister said that migration was good for the UK, but the process should be controlled in order to avoid negative impact on certain groups of Britons.