EU migrants ‘could be BANNED from Britain unless they have a job’, Home Secretary hints

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The Government could be set for a tough crackdown on who is allowed into the country after Brexit

After 82,000 came to the UK “looking for work” last year, the Home Secretary confirmed the Government is looking at ways to reduce net migration to Britain.

However, she admitted it would be “some time” before this aim was achieved.

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  Amber Rudd dismisses SNP demands for their OWN migration powers

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  Needs-based immigration system ‘best for Britain’ after Brexit

We can have control over what decisions we make in terms of who we would like to come here and what level of skills we want them to have

Amber Rudd

Speaking to the Home Affairs select committee, Ms Rudd said: “I can’t anticipate what the final decision will be in terms of immigration but that might be an area we want to look at. 82,000 is a large number.

“The main point about leaving the European Union, from an immigration point of view, is that those decisions will be made here.

“We will look carefully about how we would support businesses in any new immigration system going forward to make sure they could have access to the people they need.”

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Amber Rudd arrives at Downing Street ahead of a cabinet meeting on Tuesday

As Britain gets set to begin Brexit negotiations, the Government will be tasked with drawing up an immigration system for the UK over the coming months.

While a number of systems have been put forward, including a points-based system, Ms Rudd said the Government will be “guided by what works best for Britain and what works best for supporting the economy.”

She told MPs: “We are certainly doing a lot of work across government to ensure that any system reflects the needs of different businesses, different areas, different regions.”

“We can have control over what decisions we make in terms of who we would like to come here and what level of skills we want them to have.”

The news comes as the Brexit Alliance proposed a needs-based system whereby the use of easily available online data to understand the areas of employment Britain needs to improve upon and target the immigration policy accordingly.

A statement from the Brexit Alliance reads: “We propose two approaches to the UK’s post-Brexit immigration policy. Firstly, we believe the Government should approach immigration by determining the real need in the economy and so it should aim for a needs-based immigration policy.

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Amber Rudd spoke to the Home Affairs select committee on Tuesday

“Secondly, we propose that the Government should determine this need and inform its policymaking more generally by utilising the advances in so-called ‘big data’.

“Big data analytics provides the means to answer these questions and many more, thus setting the foundations for an informed, evidence-based debate and approach to immigration policy—but also policymaking itself—at every stage of its development, including its ongoing implementation.”