Interesting Times: Immigration and the UK Election

Interesting Times: The Election and UK Immigration Had things gone as most commentators expected, the UK would now be entering hard Brexit talks with the near certainty of leaving the single market and/or customs union and the consequent ending of free movement of people from the European Union. A few weeks later and that near certainty no longer seems as certain, with murmurings of a Softer Brexit and the implication that allowing freer movement of labour from the EU may now be up for discussion. Yet any rowing back on ending free movement would immediately conflict with the net migration target of 100,000 - a key feature of the Conservative party manifesto. If we assume that this is still in play, any allowance of free movement from the EU – around half of the net migration number - would obliterate any attempts to hit such a target within a parliament.