British firms will NOT face £1,000 charge for hiring EU workers post-Brexit after Downing Street slaps down minister for idea
Immigration Minister Robert Goodwill said earlier today that an annual levy was one of a number of options being considered to slash sky-high immigration
THE Immigration Minister was left humiliated yesterday after No.10 dumped a plan to charge firms £1,000 for each EU worker they bring in post Brexit.
Robert Goodwill told peers an annual levy could be introduced to slash sky-high immigration and create a fund to “train our own people”.
But within hours Downing Street said the idea was “not on the Government’s agenda” after an outcry from business groups and Brussels bureaucrats.
The PM’s official spokeswoman said: “We are not suggesting this is the way forward.”
Labour supporters pointed out the U-turn came after Theresa May had mocked Jeremy Corbyn for his own shambolic immigration flip-flop on Tuesday.
Mr Goodwill had been speaking to a Lords committee about the options being considered to take back controls of the border post Brexit.
He said a scheme that will see UK firms charged £1,000 for every skilled worker they bring in from outside the EU from April could be extended to skilled EU recruits.
He told peers: “It would be helpful to the British economy and to British workers who feel they are overlooked because of other people coming into the country getting jobs they would themselves like to get.”
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The comments came as the Minister insisted immigration was placing huge strains on housing and schooling in many parts of the country.
But the idea sparked fury with business groups demanding a “rethink” and former Tory Minister Anna Soubry calling it a “tax on business”.
Guy Verhoftstadt, the former Belgian PM and chief EU Brexit negotiator, stormed: “Imagine, just for a moment, what the UK headlines would be if the EU proposed this for UK nationals? Shocking.”
Separately the Lib Dems branded it “the most idiotic thing to come out of a Minister’s mouth since ‘red white and blue’ Brexit”.
The Home Office initially stood by Mr Goodwill saying there were a “whole range of options we could consider” to bring down EU migration after Brexit.
He separately claimed an emergency brake on new arrivals wouldn’t work – as firms would rush to finish their recruitment before it takes effect.
But he said agriculture, the NHS and the care sector could be exempt from stricter controls on EU migrants given labour shortages.
He backed up hints Ministers would re-introduce a seasonal agricultural workers scheme to ensure farmers can bring in summer workers.
And he added the Government would consider “incentives” to encourage UK workers to take up low-skilled jobs that currently go to EU nationals.
Mr Goodwill – in the post since July – was speaking to the Lords Home Affairs EU Sub-Committee. He insisted taking back control of the border was a “priority” in Brexit talks.
Separately Brexit Minister David Jones reiterated that Britain would take back control of its borders at the end of the two-year EU divorce talks even if there is no deal in place.