Low-skilled workers from EU countries will no longer have the automatic right to work in the UK after Brexit, under proposed new immigration rules. There was "no reason to think" the plans would harm the economy, said Home Secretary, Sajid Javid.
Javid said the plans for the White Paper - to be published later - will not include a "specific target" for reducing numbers coming into the UK. But they would bring net migration down to "sustainable levels", he told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme.
Mr Javid would only say "the objective is to bring net migration down to more sustainable levels". According to him, most people would agree the current level, 273,000, was "very high" and it should be cut to a level that "meets first our economic need but at the same time is not too high a burden on our communities or infrastructure".
The new immigration system is expected to be based around skills rather than where people came from and would be the "biggest shake-up in 40 years".
The much-delayed White Paper is expected to include:
- Scrapping the current cap on the number of skilled workers such as doctors or engineers from the EU and elsewhere
- A consultation on a minimum salary requirement of £30,000 for skilled migrants seeking five-year visas
- Low-skilled workers may be able to apply for short-term visas of up to a year
- Plans to phase in the new system from 2021
The White Paper - a document setting out proposed new laws before they are formalised in a government bill - is due to be published later on Wednesday.
