Freedom of Movement

Something struck me this week about Brexit which I hadn't twigged before.

After the vote to leave the EU, many EU workers filling jobs in the UK left, either returning to their own countries or, using their Freedom of Movement, moving to another EU country that needs workers.

We ended up with a dearth of workers, exacerbated by a lot of people reasessing their lives after lockdown and opting to retire early.

This necessitated the UK taking in non-EU workers, mostly, but not exclusively, from former colonies, to fill the large number of vacancies - places where the inhabitants are hated by our far right, either because of their colour or their religion. It was, however, a necessity if the economy was to grow. A massive own goal.

Now this much we all know. The thought that hadn't struck me previously was that while the EU workers were highly mobile and would likely leave the UK during a downturn, those we've had to recruit from former colonies aren't highly mobile as they don't have access to FoM and, given their lives are probably a lot better in the UK than their country of origin, are here to stay, regardless of an economic downturn. 

Now who was one of the prime drivers behind Brexit over his concern about immigration? Yes, you guessed it, Nigel Fuhrage. If we're having a large influx of people Fuhrage doesn't like, it's the fault of people like Fuhrage and those who believed his populist nonsense.