EU referendum: Boris and Gove pledge tough new immigration system after Brexit

[DodgyAgent]

"Migrants will be barred from entering Britain after a Brexit unless they can speak good English and have the right skills for a job, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove have pledged as they set out their vision for the UK outside of the EU.

In a joint declaration, Mr Johnson and Mr Gove announce plans for an Australian-style points based immigration system to come into force in the years after Britain leaves the EU.

Their statement, which is also signed by employment minister Priti Patel, will infuriate Downing Street and represents a major challenge to David Cameron’s authority."

EU referendum: Boris and Gove pledge tough new immigration system after Brexit

Can somebody tell that blonde cretin that UK's been using points based "Australian" system for at least 12 years now, Gove should certainly know about that.

"good English and have the right skills for a job" - that's pretty much how it works now, so no change to immigration policy from Brexiters then.

NEXT!

They are talking about applying the system to EU workers and maybe making changes to it such as the Tier2 "exceptional skills" program.

[Old Greg]

They are talking about applying the system to EU workers and maybe making changes to it such as the Tier2 "exceptional skills" program.

Just like Norway and Switzerland.

Oh, wait a minute.

[DodgyAgent]

Erm... even a thick, deluded Remainer like me is aware that the point system for immigrants doesn't apply to EU citizens under the EU freedom of movement agreement.

That's funny. The vast majority of medical professionals I've met here over the years have been entirely fluent in English. Any doctor coming to the UK from continental Europe is extremely unlikely to have broken English.

Interestingly, many nurses from continental Europe come to the UK for a few years in order to increase their value back home. The NHS gains, because the chronic shortage of nurses is ameliorated somewhat, their home countries gain because they get highly trained, experienced nurses. Of course these nurses have to speak English pretty well as a condition of employment.

With EU clinical staff it is discriminatory to make EU workers achieve a pre determined standard of English. If you are a non EU doctor or Nurse you have to achieve an average IELTS score of 7.0 to be allowed to work in the UK. If we have Brexit for good or bad we will be able to apply the same rules to EU workers as we do to non EU workers

[DodgyAgent]

Interestingly enough Australia has twice as many migrants per head as the UK: 3412.0 - Migration, Australia, 2014-15

the UK also introduced a points based system back in 2008 for non-EU migrants in 2008, with points awarded for qualifications, future expected earnings, sponsorship and English language skills but there are numerous problems with it: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/20...e-uks-economy/

I think you will find Australia gets the skills it wants rather than acts as a repository of jobs for the rest of Asia.

[VectraMan]

With EU clinical staff it is discriminatory to make EU workers achieve a pre determined standard of English. If you are a non EU doctor or Nurse you have to achieve an average IELTS score of 7.0 to be allowed to work in the UK. If we have Brexit for good or bad we will be able to apply the same rules to EU workers as we do to non EU workers

I have to say when I was in hospital 2 years ago it was the Spanish nurse I had the most trouble understanding, whereas the other obviously immigrant nurses spoke pretty good English.

This is probably one of the few good arguments the outies have, but then the issue isn't so much about people with poor English being able to come to the UK, as UK companies being free not to employee people because their language skills aren't up to scratch. Which seems fair enough to me.

[darmstadt]

I think you will find Australia gets the skills it wants rather than acts as a repository of jobs for the rest of Asia.

One of the problems here, and has been outlined in various reports, is that you get the same problems associated with low skilled workers driving salaries down and taking the positions of the locals. You may get the higher skilled workers but they'll take those jobs which locals could also do but for less. A catch-22 situation in many ways...

[DodgyAgent]

I have to say when I was in hospital 2 years ago it was the Spanish nurse I had the most trouble understanding, whereas the other obviously immigrant nurses spoke pretty good English.

This is probably one of the few good arguments the outies have, but then the issue isn't so much about people with poor English being able to come to the UK, as UK companies being free not to employee people because their language skills aren't up to scratch. Which seems fair enough to me.

I just wonder whether the remain campaign realise that they are actually endorsing open doors migration to the UK. We already struggle to stem the arrival of non EU migrants. Do we really want the uK to grow into a country with a population of 100 million?

[Old Greg]

With EU clinical staff it is discriminatory to make EU workers achieve a pre determined standard of English. If you are a non EU doctor or Nurse you have to achieve an average IELTS score of 7.0 to be allowed to work in the UK. If we have Brexit for good or bad we will be able to apply the same rules to EU workers as we do to non EU workers

https://www.nmc.org.uk/registration/...-requirements/

English Language Requirements - EU/EEA
From 19 January 2016 a new process will be in place for the recognition of qualifications and registration for nurses and midwives trained in the EEA.

When you apply for registration with the NMC we need to be satisfied you have the necessary knowledge of English to communicate effectively before we register you, so that you do not put the safety of the public at risk. Communicating includes speaking, reading, writing and listening.

If you are an EEA-trained nurse or midwife and you apply to us for registration, you will have to meet both the EU requirements for recognition of qualifications and our registration requirements.

The first step is to read our guidance and familiarise yourself with the requirements.
If you do meet them, you should send us evidence of your qualifications as part of your application. If you meet the EU requirements we will be able to recognise your qualification, and we will write to you to inform you of this. At that point we will also ask for evidence that you have the necessary knowledge of English.

There are a number of pieces of evidence that we are likely to accept, and these are set out in detail in our guidance for EEA applicants. These are:

• A recent overall score of 7.0 in the academic version of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test, with a score of at least 7.0 in each of the modules of reading, writing, listening and speaking.
• A pre-registration nursing or midwifery qualification which was taught and examined in English.
• Registration and practice of at least two years in a country where English is the first and native language, and where a successful pass in an English language test was required for registration.
• We may consider other evidence on a case-by-case basis but this evidence would have to meet all of our requirements.

We will only request evidence of your language competence after we have completed recognition of your qualifications. However, if you already have the evidence (as set out in our guidance) you may wish to send this to us along with your initial application to speed up the process and allow us to register you without any delay.

If you cannot send the evidence we request, or we are not satisfied with what you send us, we will ask you to complete the IELTS test, as detailed above, before we progress with your application any further. If we do formally request you to complete an IELTS test for these reasons you must sit the test within 90 days of our decision.

We highly recommend you make sure you can meet our language evidence requirements before you apply to us. If you feel you are unlikely to do so you may wish to complete an IELTS test before applying to us.

[BlasterBates]

It's a bit of a myth that Australia is somehow much different to the UK regarding migration:

Migration increases competition for low-skilled jobs | Arts News

The authors found that continued high levels of low-skilled migration had negatively impacted on employment levels, labour market participation and working conditions of other Australians. Young people without tertiary qualifications were particularly affected.

[BrilloPad]

Erm... even a thick, deluded Remainer like me is aware that the point system for immigrants doesn't apply to EU citizens under the EU freedom of movement agreement.

About 50% of net immigration is from outside the EU though. Why can't the UK sort that out? Its irrelevant to the stay/remain vote.