Make your mind up
It is reported that the Home Secretary is considering withdrawing the UK from a Council of Europe agreement going back decades which lowers visa fees and charges on European workers, including seasonal farm workers and health staff.
Funnily enough the story emerged at the same time that Tim Martin, head of Weatherspoons, who supported Brexit, is calling for more immigration from Europe because he needs more bar staff.
A better illustration of how the fantasy of Brexit meets the reality of Brexit it is difficult to imagine. But what is really worrying is that Mr. Martin is not being that unreasonable. It is perfectly possible to leave the single market and keep fairly open borders for sensible economic reasons. It is what you can do when you have control of your borders; it’s messy, economically damaging in comparison with free movement but it is doable.
So why is the Home Secretary proposing to make attracting key workers more difficult and damage British industry in the process? Perhaps because in a cabinet appointed purely on its loyalty to Boris Johnson and the purest of pure Brexits, this is what you end up with. Competing to be more self defeating over anything with the word Europe in it, is now seen as a career enhancing move, when even firms which supported leaving the EU are now calling for some common sense.
https://jonty.substack.com/