Highly-skilled workers will be given priority over those who head to the UK for low-paid jobs under new immigration rules after Brexit, Theresa May has said.

The Prime Minister confirmed that European Union countries will be treated the same as those across the rest of the world when the new system is introduced after the Cabinet agreed the move last month.

Tourists and visitors making short trips to the UK from low-risk countries would be dealt with swiftly through electronic visa checks.

General view of passengers going through UK Border at Terminal 2 of Heathrow Airport.
The Tories have announced their plans for immigration after Brexit (Picture: PA)

Mrs May, who remains committed to the goal of cutting net annual immigration below 100,000, said the long-awaited Tory plans would be fair for ‘ordinary working people’.

However this morning she was told her plan was unworkable and could actually see more unskilled migrants hitting the UK.

Migration from Europe was one of the main reasons cited for the UK decision to leave the EU, which will happen on March 29th next year.

Mrs May said: ‘Two years ago, the British public voted to leave the European Union and take back control of our borders.

‘When we leave we will bring in a new immigration system that ends freedom of movement once and for all.

‘For the first time in decades, it will be this country that controls and chooses who we want to come here.

‘It will be a skills-based system where it is workers’ skills that matter, not where they come from. It will be a system that looks across the globe and attracts the people with the skills we need.

?? Licensed to London News Pictures. 02/10/2018. Birmingham, UK. British Prime Minister THERESA MAY arrives at the conference centre for day three of the 2018 Conservative Party conference at the ICC in Birmingham, where he is due to speak. This years event is focused heavily on Brexit and negotiations with the EU over the UK's exit form the European Union. Photo credit: Ben Cawthra/LNP
Theresa May has long championed bringing migration to below 100,000 people per year (Picture: London News Pictures)

‘Crucially it will be fair to ordinary working people. For too long people have felt they have been ignored on immigration and that politicians have not taken their concerns seriously enough.

‘The new skills-based system will make sure low-skilled immigration is brought down and set the UK on the path to reduce immigration to sustainable levels, as we promised. At the same time we are training up British people for the skilled jobs of the future.’

Home Secretary Sajid Javid is preparing to set out the immigration blueprint in a speech to the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.

He has said EU free movement will end and he wants an open system that allowed Britain to attract the best talent from across the globe.

There are fears there are not enough trained Brits able to do these jobs once they become available or that they will be financially attractive to home-grown workers.

The NHS has already warned that it will struggle without workers from the EU.

File photo dated 18/06/18 of Home Secretary Sajid Javid who is expected to announce a new multimillion-pound fund to target hotspots of violent crime, it has been reported. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Saturday September 29, 2018. See PA story POLITICS Javid. Photo credit should read: Victoria Jones/PA Wire
Home Secretary Sajid Javid will be speaking to the Tory Party conference about immigration (Picture: PA)

While farms have been struggling with a lack of labour and fruit left to go rotten in the fields because of a lack of seasonal workers.

Last month the Migration Advisory Committee published a Government-commissioned report that said that European countries should not be given any special treatment over immigration.

This morning Migration Watch UK said these proposals were ‘not likely’ to cut net migration.

Vice Chairman Alp Mehmet said ‘the overall numbers, frankly, are quite likely to go up.’

He added: ‘We want net migration to come down and these proposals are not likely to do that, you are simply going to replace EU (low-skilled) migration with migration from elsewhere in the world. That’s taking your foot off the brake and frankly slipping onto the accelerator.’

Business leaders added that firms might struggle in the wake of the new rules and end up being tied to Home Office bureaucracy, which they managed to avoid when employing EU workers.

NHS Against Brexit rally
The care industry, including the NHS, could lose out on staff after Brexit (Picture: Getty)

Jill Rutter from the independent think tank The Institute For Government also added a lot of sectors – such as hospitality or the care industry – were dependent on low-paid migration.

‘If the post-exit new migration strategy is that those jobs should be available to Brits, then the question is “does that sector start to pay enough to attract the British workers” in who have so far said they actually don’t want to work in those sectors which is why that sector has become extraordinarily dependent on EU migration,’ she said.

The Conservatives say that visitors doing ‘fly-in, fly-out’ trips from certain countries would be fast-tracked through e-gates.

Security and criminal records checks would be carried out ahead of landing under the proposals.

Workers wanting to stay for longer periods would need to earn a minimum amount to ensure they were not competing for low-skilled jobs that could be filled from within the UK.

Successful applicants would be able to bring immediate family into the UK on condition of sponsorship by their future employers.

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