Brexit and British Immigration Policy

After listening to Theresa May's somewhat lacklustre 'big Brexit speech', I thought it was notable that she was happy to say she wants control of the UK's borders but unwilling to specifically address free movement. As the UK is not part of schengen - where one can travel without showing a passport - technically we currently have control of our borders, but obviously not control of free movement. I think it likely that she still plans to use the free movement issue as a bargaining chip in negotiations, but would be very disappointed if it is allowed to continue once we leave the EU. Optimistically, we could achieve a much better immigration system, that allows talent into the country without putting pressure on low-skilled jobs or constraining ourselves to arbitrary numeric targets.

This relies on us ending total free movement with the EU, and having a fair immigration policy that doesn't discriminate against the rest of the world. Politicians (except idiots like Corbyn) would never totally open the UK's borders and job market like this to the rest of the world - but somehow, with Europe, this is fine. Such lack of requirements to immigrate provides incentive and ability to low-skilled workers, from countries with lower wages and working conditions, to move and better their life - an understandable choice, but one which takes jobs and opportunity away from low-skilled natives, who are thus more likely end up dependant on the state. Indeed, due to the low wages, low-skilled immigrants tend to also end up reliant on the state.  Instead of this, wouldn't it be better to give preference to highly skilled immigrants, in high demand sectors, and not give preference to Europeans - rather grant immigration to the best people for the jobs, regardless of their nationality?

It should be imperative in our immigration policy that we give priority to those working in high demand sectors, and with high levels of education. As part of this, we should once again allow international students (only with good quality education), who have already had time to integrate into British culture, to remain in the country after graduation to find work here. Such jobs tend to be well paid, or provide services essential to the wider society, and thus immigrants in these roles would contribute to the UK instead of drain it. Not only do better skilled immigrants contribute more to the economy, they are also more likely to integrate well into their adopted society and culture, which would likely help to ease tensions with the native British.

Also key to a successful immigration policy is successful integration of immigrants into the wider community - essential to this is a knowledge of the local language. Currently, we require people to take a language test when applying for citizenship - but the language requirement is low - and offer English lessons to those struggling. Rather than fixing the problem once someone has arrived, we should be doing the opposite - making it a requirement to know English before someone is allowed to enter the country for an extended period of time. Without a working knowledge of English, it is difficult to access services and communicate with anyone except other immigrants - causing further isolation of immigrant communities, and creating a seemingly insurmountable barrier to integration.

Beyond these common sense immigration policies, we must also consider the spousal-visa route, which is often alleged to be open to abuse. Primarily, a requirement that anyone applying for a spousal visa should have a good knowledge of English (and the marriage obviously not be a visa wedding) would ensure those immigrating through this route have a good chance of integration.

The Casey Review, however, highlighted the problem of 'a first generation in every generation' - by which the child of immigrants will marry someone from their parents' country, and their child will do the same; this problem seems to be most prevalent in communities where cousin marriage is traditional, and leads to further segregation and isolation of new immigrants and their communities. I propose a simple solution: to make cousin marriage illegal in the UK, and to stop recognising international cousin marriages. Aside from the issues around integration, such incestuous relationships, particularly over many generations, reduce IQ and lead to an increased likelihood of genetic problems in offspring. This is not good for individuals or society, and should be actively discouraged in national law and through immigration policy. Harsh but true.

Finally, a return of seasonal workers permits for agricultural work - at least in the short term - is essential to keep our farming sector productive for the next few years. Seasonal agricultural jobs are low-skilled and low-paid, but hard work; even before free movement within the EU, farms were often staffed by foreigners to help with the harvest. I hope with time, agricultural technologies will improve to reduce this need for manual labour, but it is also imperative that we encourage native British to enter into agricultural work and hopefully improve the industry. Indeed, in all sectors which we 'require' immigrant labour, we should be looking at why there are not native British to fill these posts - and encourage education in these areas to fill such emerging skills gaps.

We need a streamlined immigration policy, that prioritises growing our highly skilled sectors, with immigrants who want to contribute to and integrate into British society - as most already do. We should be opening our country to the best of the world, instead of anyone who fancies it as long as they are from Europe.

British citizenship is a privilege. Let's keep it that way.

For reference, I found this interview with Dr. Tino Sanandaji a good insight into the immigration issues we currently face in Europe.

For more insight into the integration problems faced in the UK, read the executive summary and full Casey Review here