Month: January 2020

An independent report into the options for UK's future immigration policy has recommended that the government cut the salary threshold for skilled migrants. The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has said it should be reduced from £30,000 to £25,600 for those coming to the UK with a job offer. "No perfect system exists" and "difficult trade-offs" will be unavoidable, the committee warns. It comes as ministers prepare to publish a new […]

New checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain are an 'indispensable' consequence of the Brexit deal, Michel Barnier has said. Last week the prime minister suggested GB-NI trade would remain 'unfettered.' But the EU's chief negotiator said the UK's choices make frictionless trade 'impossible.' The Brexit deal means Northern Ireland will follow EU rules on agricultural and manufactured goods - the rest of the UK will not. Additionally, the […]

A multi-million pound publicity blitz to prepare the public for leaving the EU appears to have had little impact, a spending watchdog has said. The National Audit Office said £46m was spent on the "Get ready for Brexit" campaign ahead of the UK's expected departure at the end of last October. But the campaign was halted three days before the UK was supposed to leave after the EU granted another […]

A UK minister has attended a European Union meeting for the final time before the country leaves the bloc on Friday. Speaking after the General Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, Foreign Office Minister Chris Pincher said the UK was "looking forward to the next chapter" in its relations with the EU. The UK and the EU's 27 remaining countries would "continue to defend shared values" after Brexit, he said. The […]