Brexit Update...

Eastern Europeans Flock to UK

Number of immigrants working in the UK increases following Brexit decision.

           After June vote for Britain to leave the European Union, the number of Eastern European migrants working in the UK has increased, due to concerns that immigrants will be barred from the country post-break.

           According to the Office of National Statistics, the number of Eastern European migrants employed in Britain grew by almost 50,000 in the months between July and September alone. These figures show that, since the Brexit referendum, the total number of non-UK workers has increased by 241,000 to 3.4 million.

           “This is yet another large increase in the labor force driven by an increase in foreign workers,” said the chairman of Migration Watch UK, Lord Green of Deddington. “This continuing influx helps explain why the British people voted for Brexit and is a sharp reminder that the forthcoming negotiations must get these numbers down.”

Prime Minister Theresa May has voiced her desire for the UK to implement tighter immigration controls as part of Brexit. “I think the people spoke on June 23, I think an important aspect that underpinned people's approach to that vote was a concern that they had about control of movement of people from the EU into the UK,” she said.

The majority of voters want to keep an open market with the EU but create more rigid immigration laws. However, EU leaders have said that the UK cannot have one without the other; single market membership cannot exist separately from free movement. German Chancellor Angela Merkel maintains that the EU cannot divide their four freedoms—the free movement of goods, capital, people and services—while still allowing the United Kingdom to retain tariff-free access to the EU market of almost 500 million people.

According to statements from the UK Prime Minister, free movement through the UK with an emergency brake—this, if “pulled,” would result in specific restrictions on migration into the UK—is not an option under consideration; although this would allow for UK continued participation in the single market, it would not cut numbers to levels satisfactory to the British public. Ideas for reducing immigrants from the EU into the UK include an extension of the systems for work permits, which would allow skilled workers from the EU to enter the country. This option could reduce EU migration by about 100,000 per year.

           The UK will be able to fully complete their exit from the European Union in the year 2019. The world most likely will not fully know the consequences of the split on UK immigration and employment until that date.