Post-Brexit 'Points-Based' Immigration System 'Will Reduce Economic Growth'
Jan 28, 2020
Boris Johnson’s plan to end free movement and introduce new immigration controls after Brexit will cut economic growth and barely im in people’s standard of living, a key report has said. The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) was commissioned by the government to help inform its plans to introduce and Australian-style points-based immigration system after Brexit.But the report rejected a full Australian-style system, instead recommending a mixture of the existing model of salary thresholds for immigrants with a job offer, and introducing a points-based system for skilled migrants without a job offer. MAC also recommended the prime minister cuts the controversial minimum salary threshold for skilled immigrants from £30,000 to £25,600.Ending free movement for EU citizens, imposing salary thresholds and introducing a points-based system would reduce immigration and the total population but also hit economic growth through lower gross domestic product (GDP), MAC said.The report said it also expected such a system to “very slightly increase” standard of living through increased GDP per capita, while forecasting a small boost to productivity and an improvement in the public finances, “though these estimates are more uncertain”.The changes will also reduce pressure on the NHS, schools and social housing, but increase pressure on social care, increase the ratio of dependent children and elderly people to workers, and “have larger impacts on some sectors and areas than others”.
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