Meeting of the Parliament 19 December 2018
Perhaps the minister will respond to those points when he winds up the debate.
The withdrawal agreement protects existing rights to equal treatment and non-discrimination for EU citizens residing or working in the UK and their family members. Broadly speaking, they will have the same entitlements to work, study and access public services and benefits as they do now, subject only to any future domestic policy changes that would apply equally to UK nationals. Therefore, I ask again, and perhaps the minister will respond to this when he winds up: given that that is what the SNP, rightly, called for, why is the SNP now minded to vote against the withdrawal agreement? It delivers exactly what the SNP said that it wanted.
We agree with the first half of the Scottish Government’s motion, but we do not agree with the portion that I must describe—with all due respect to the minister—as rather empty virtue signalling about fees. EU nationals with indefinite leave to remain will not have to pay a fee, and those who need to pay will pay £65 if they are over 16 and £32.50 if they are under 16, which is significantly less than a British citizen would pay for a passport. Nor do we agree that the United Kingdom needs a differentiated or devolved immigration system. Experts have warned that increased deviation is not helpful to the economy. For example, a report that was published by the migration observatory at the University of Oxford said that it is
“not clear that significant regional variation would lead to a better match between policy and regional economic needs.”
It also said that
“regionalisation has an economic drawback, which is that a more complex immigration system would increase administrative burdens for its users”—
that is, not just employers but migrant labourers, too. The director of the Confederation of British Industry Scotland has said the same thing, as have the Food and Drink Federation Scotland, Scottish Chambers of Commerce and NFU Scotland.
Whether we voted for it or not, Brexit has facilitated the biggest change in our immigration system in more than four decades. The new system will be based on the skills that an individual can bring to this country, not on their nationality or where they were born or come from. That means that, as we continue to grow the UK economy, we can seek out people with the correct skills and ask them to make Britain their home.
I move amendment S5M-15184.2, to leave out from “however, notes that the UK Government’s policy” to end and insert:
“, and notes and welcomes that the first priority of the UK Government in the process of leaving the EU has always been to secure the status of EU citizens living in the UK, and UK nationals living in the EU.”
15:59Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.