Leave voters want skilled EU workers to come into Britain after Brexit, survey reveals
Research shows seven out of 10 people who voted for Britain to leave the EU think free movement should continue for Europeans with ability
LEAVE voters want skilled workers to still be able to come into Britain whenever they want after Brexit, a survey has found.
Seven out of 10 who backed Britain’s EU exit at the referendum last year think free movement should continue for Europeans with ability.
At the same time, there is strong consensus among both Remain and Leave voters to stop as many unskilled voters from coming to live in the UK when we leave the EU.
The ICM poll commissioned by the British Future think tank found a total of 86% of all voters want high-skilled EU migration to stay at the same level as now or increase.
But 64% - including 50% of Remain voters - say they would like low-skilled EU immigration numbers reduced.
In a new report, British Future calls on ministers to design the post-Brexit immigration system to reflect the consensus.
It also wants Theresa May to scrap the Tories long-held target to reduce net immigration to 100,000 a year, and replace it with new “intelligent targets” for different sectors of migrants.
Its director Sunder Katwala said: “Brexit is a reset moment for immigration policy and a chance to rebuild public trust in the government’s ability to manage it”.
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Tory think tank Bright Blue director Ryan Shorthouse added: “The public clearly have differing attitudes to different types of migrants.
“The Prime Minister should listen and change her immigration policies.”