BREXIT: UK Rudd Orders Independent Assessment of EU Migration

By Tara Oakes

     BRUSSELS (MNI) - A "detailed assessment" is needed of the economic impact

of EU and EEA migration to the UK, UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd said Thursday.

     Writing in the Financial Times, Rudd asked the independent Migration

Advisory Committee to "examine the British labour market, the overall role of

migration in the wider economy and how the UK's immigration system should be

aligned with a modern industrial strategy".

     Rudd said that the assessment should begin "shortly" and will be used by

the government to shape immigration policy.

     The article could indicate a softening of tone from a Conservative party

which has repeatedly promised to cut net migration to the UK to the tens of

thousands.

     While Rudd repeated that the "public must have confidence in our ability to

control immigration", she insisted that the government were listening to

companies who have told them "how they value European citizens for labour,

skills and ideas".

     "[T]he UK must remain a hub for international talent," she said, reassuring

EU citizens that they will not face a "cliff edge" when Brexit hits.

--MNI Brussels Bureau; +44 203-865-3851; email: tara.oakes@marketnews.com

--MNI Paris Bureau; tel: +33 1-42-71-55-41; email: jack.duffy@marketnews.com

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