Theresa May’s Brexit work permit gives us a first glimpse of how immigration will work after we leave the EU, and it will work wonders to slash migration
We shall continue to welcome workers from Europe but we shall do so on our terms
WE are getting our first glimpse of how immigration will work after Brexit.
That first glimpse is encouraging. The new rules look fair, effective, reasonable and well timed.
Fair because they recognise the rights of EU nationals already here.
Effective because by denying in-work benefits to new entrants, they will reduce overall numbers.
Reasonable because key sectors of our economy will still be able to hire the talent they need.
Well timed because the new rules will apply to people who arrive after next month.
If we waited until Brexit formally took effect in 2019, there would be a rush to beat the deadline.
Most Brits — including most who voted Remain — want immigration to be regulated.
We understand that controlling our borders doesn’t mean closing them.
We just want to feel we are in charge of who comes in and in what numbers.
The proposals by Theresa May are ambitious and balanced.
EU nationals wanting to get jobs in the UK will be entitled to a five-year work permit, which can be renewed.
But they will no longer be able to claim payments such as tax credits, income support, housing benefit and help with council tax.
Nor will they be able to send child benefit to kids in their home countries who have never set foot here.
It is hard to argue against these restrictions. Indeed, many EU nationals already in the UK say they want to tighten up the benefit rules.
Our welfare system is based on the idea that we fill a common pot with our taxes when we are working and draw from that pot at times of need.
It plainly cannot work if 60million Brits are filling the pot but 500million EU citizens can empty it.
The wonder is that other EU states are happy to keep the rules on common welfare claims — rules which were, in many cases, invented by Eurocrats and Euro-judges rather than approved by their own ministers.
We will still welcome EU nationals who want to bring their talents here.
Many of our industries are world-beating — the chemical, audio-visual, educational, scientific, legal and financial sectors, for example.
The best and brightest people in the world often choose to work here and the new rules will barely affect qualified professionals.
Indeed, while controlling EU immigration, we should make it easier for skilled non-EU nationals to get work permits in these key industries.
There are also sectors with shortages at a lower wage level.
For example, much of the hospitality industry depends on people who come to work here for a time, as do parts of the NHS.
A lot of agricultural work is seasonal and, in practice, is done by EU nationals.
It is economic to bring in fruit pickers by bus from Slovakia or Poland; it is not feasible to fly them in from Bangladesh.
These sectors, too, should be happy with the new rules, which will allow them to find the workers they need.
Overall, numbers will still fall, though, because the removal of in-work benefits will make British jobs less attractive to EU workers.
If you come to the UK from, say, Romania, and top up your salary with tax credits and other in-work benefits, you are better off on the minimum wage here than on the average wage at home.
Remove the top-ups and the work becomes a lot less lucrative.
This is especially true because the Pound is no longer overvalued, meaning a British salary is worth less when converted into Romanian lei.
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The fall in numbers will be largely accounted for by unskilled EU migrants, of whom around 70,000 a year arrive without a job offer.
It won’t affect doctors, engineers or scientists.
Nor will it affect EU nationals already here, whose rights the Government is keen to confirm, provided it gets the same deal for the much smaller number of Brits living in the EU.
My guess is that almost every other electorate in Europe would prefer such a system to the free movement that Brussels insists on.
But they are not given that option because their political leaders care more about a united Europe than about sensible immigration controls.
In refusing to budge, those political leaders risk a real backlash.
Not the moderate reforms that Britain is now contemplating, but an outbreak of populist anger that could lead to border closures and expulsions.
Britain has found a better way.
We shall continue to welcome workers from Europe but we shall do so on our terms.
No longer will Euro-judges tell us whom we must admit and whom we may deport.
We will decide who gets to stay. What could be more reasonable?
— Daniel Hannan is a Conservative MEP for South East England.