I know from the conversations I’ve had with people on the doorstep and at my coffee morning and surgeries that many people in Wolverhampton are worried both by the economic consequences of leaving the EU and about immigration. The government need to balance people’s genuine concerns about migration and the fears of farmers, business owners and manufacturers that leaving the European single market will cause major economic problems.

I think there is a solution, I’ve written an article in The Observer that you can read below. I believe that we should operate a two-tier immigration system. Tier one would allow professionals from other European countries like engineers, IT specialists, doctors to come here if they have a confirmed job earning more than £25,000 and a minimum level of qualifications. This would also apply to students providing they had a confirmed place at a British university.

Tier 2 would be for low or semi-skilled workers, based on quotas worked out between industry, government and trade unions. These restrictions would be phased in over time and would be carefully designed to strike the right balance between maximising job and training opportunities for local people and ensuring that sudden workforce shortages are avoided. This could deliver the ultimate prize of a higher-wage, higher-skilled economy and restore government control over immigration.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/07/labour-must-introduce-fair-immigration-system

January 2017