Brexit

Brexit: Leaked document suggests UK plan to curb EU migration. Proposals aimed at cutting the numbers of low-skilled migrants from Europe following Brexit have been disclosed in a leaked Home Office paper. The document, obtained by The Guardian, suggests free movement will end upon exit in March 2019 and the UK will adopt a "more selective approach" based on the UK's economic and social needs. Access to labour in industries without shortages may be curbed, it suggests. The BBC understands the document has not been signed off by ministers. A spokesman for the government said it did not comment on "leaked draft" documents. They said ministers would be setting out their "initial proposals" for a new immigration system "which takes back control of the UK's borders" later in the autumn Downing Street has long maintained that the current unconditional right of EU citizens to live and work in the UK will come to an end on the day that the UK leaves the 28-member bloc. It is also likely that there will be an implementation period to minimise disruption to businesses and to the public services, many of which are heavily reliant on European labour. However, details of the likely shape of the UK's post-Brexit immigration policy remain hazy with a proposed immigration bill, one of eight pieces of Brexit-related legislation, yet to be published. The Home Office document obtained by the Guardian, entitled the Border, Immigration and Citizenship System After the UK Leaves the EU, is marked extremely sensitive and dated August 2017. Among the ideas set out, the 82-page document suggests low-skilled migrants would be offered residency for a maximum of two years while those in "high-skilled occupations" would be granted permits to work for a longer period of three to five years.