Free movement will end when UK leaves EU in March 2019, Minister says
Brandon Lewis said freedom of movement was one of the “core principles” of the EU, and that a new immigration system would be in place when Britain formally departs the union - two years after Article 50 was triggered.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Free movement of labour ends when we leave the European Union in the spring of 2019 - we’re very clear about that.”
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Hide AdAsked why free trade and single market access would not also end then, Mr Lewis said: “There’s a period of negotiation we’re going through with the European Union at the moment, but we’re very clear that free movement ends - it’s part of the core principles, the four key principles, of the European Union - when we leave.”
Pressed on whether it was a red line to end free movement in March 2019, he said: “It’s a simple matter of fact that the four key principles of the European Union include free movement - we won’t be a member of the European Union when we leave.”
His comments came after Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced she will commission the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to carry out a detailed analysis of the role of EU nationals in the UK economy and society.