The Interior Ministry is considering loosening its migration policy. Photo: Alami. p>The officials have reached out to their counterparts in Switzerland to try to negotiate a special agreement for those aged 18 to 30 to work in the UK for a limited period of time, and vice versa.
It is hoped to sign similar agreements with European Union countries, but this is complicated by Brussels' usual insistence that such agreements be negotiated collectively by the EU bloc.
This loosening of immigration policy is a reflection of the UK's tight labor market, with low unemployment and many vacancies remaining prices, which has been cited as a factor in price increases.
This is also notable given the rhetoric that Home Secretary Swella Braverman often uses on immigration, including more recently about the need to train more Britons for jobs where there are skills gaps.
Filling vacancies
The development, first described in The Sunday Times, will help restaurants, cafes, nanny-seeking households and other employers find suitable workers to fill vacancies.
The UK's exit from the EU, which came into effect in January 2020, means the UK is no longer part of the bloc's “freedom of movement” rules.
They allowed any EU citizen to move freely to another EU country without a visa.
This rule became a central issue in the EU referendum, with Brexiteers arguing that the inability to control the number of people who moved from the EU to the UK should stop.
The idea pursued by the Home Office is bilateral agreements that would allow a number of people aged 18-30 to move to the UK for a certain period of time to work.
>This is likely to be mutual, meaning that the same number of British tsev aged 18 to 30 years old will be able to move to work in the country that made the deal.
Only Switzerland contacted us
An interior ministry insider insisted that Switzerland, which is not part of the EU, has more room to negotiate such agreements, was the only country so far approached.
European Commission leaders generally oppose individual members entering into immigration agreements with third countries without Brussels being involved in the negotiations.
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Such deals are usually struck between the 27 EU member states. Such an approach could complicate any attempt by the Interior Ministry to negotiate agreements with countries such as France and Italy.
It appears that the political push is in its infancy. A Home Office insider said government officials, not Ms Braverman herself, contacted Switzerland.
How tough a post-Brexit immigration regime is still a matter that divides the Conservative Party, with ardent Euroskeptics advocating a tougher approach to work visas.
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