Philip Hammond and Theresa May heading for fierce row after Chancellor declares Brits don’t mind high-skilled immigration
Blues must be wondering where it all went wrong for Salah after his stunning start to life at Liverpool
PHILIP HAMMOND is set for a fierce row with Theresa May after saying Brits have no problem with unlimited high-skilled immigration — and EU trade links are as vital as border controls.
In an astonishing interview in the US, the Chancellor vehemently denied the suggestion that migration mattered more to the Government than being in the single market – saying: “I don’t accept that.”
And he told Bloomberg that people who voted Brexit in the Referendum had only shown they didn’t want “full free movement” from the EU.
Separately he lavished praise on Bank of England Governor Mark Carney – saying he would be keen for him to serve a full eight years.
And he attacked the UK media for being too positive about the economy following the bombshell Brexit vote.
The remarks came just 24 hours after a Tory conference where the PM insisted Britain would decide how it controls immigration in Brexit talks, backed moves to hire more UK doctors – and criticised the Bank of England’s money printing programme.
And they will fuel Tory fears of a looming Cabinet rift over the Government’s demands during Brexit negotiations.
The Sun today revealed a senior source predicted either ‘Soft Brexit’ Philip Hammond or ‘Hard Brexit’ Trade Secretary Liam Fox will end up resigning.
Mr Hammond yesterday conceded that there would have to be some controls on low-skilled immigration from eastern Europe as a result of Brexit.
RELATED STORIES
But he said: “The problem is not highly skilled and highly paid bankers, brain surgeons, software engineers.
“You will not find, if you walk around towns in Britain and ask people how they feel about migration, that they have a problem with people with high skills and high earnings coming to the UK.”
He added there would be “give and take” on immigration controls in a bid to get the best deal.
“The decision of the British people included implicitly a requirement that we do not have full freedom of movement in the way it has operated in the past.
“That is not the same as saying we will not allow any people from the European Union to come into the UK.”
Mr Hammond was speaking as he met the heads of key US banks Goldman Sachs and Citi in a bid to reassure them the City of London would retain lucrative access to the EU after a Brexit.
He insisted Britain placed a “very high priority” on getting the right solution with the EU for banking and finance giants.
But he faces another backlash after warning the economy will slowdown until Britain has a “much clearer picture” of what a Brexit will look like.
He said media hailing the strong performance of the economy after the Referendum had got it wrong.
“The data the media is mostly focused on is backward-looking, which tells us that the UK economy was more robust than we thought in the first half of this year.”