Members of the European Union enjoy total freedom of movement and that includes the free movement of labor and business between member states. A French citizen does not need special permission to live and work in the United Kingdom, for example, and this allows businesses in member states to easily recruit employees from anywhere in the Union without considering their immigration status.
But the United Kingdom will not enjoy that level of freedom for much longer under Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit plan.
We already knew that Britain would exit the European customs union which allows the free movement of goods, but Johnson has now detailed more of his plans which include applying Britain's points-based immigration system to the unfettered labor force they currently have access to.
Johnson has proposed a points-based immigration scheme similar to the one used in Australia, in which applicants are rated on the basis of their skills, education, and whether their talents are needed in the U.K. Business leaders have expressed concern that the new system will prevent British companies from filling labor shortages, particularly in less specialized roles. The National Health Service, for example, relies heavily on foreign workers, and while doctors and nurses will still be able to come to the U.K. under Johnson’s plan, other essential support staff may not.
I don't know enough about the Australian economy to say whether a similar system has worked well for them, but Australia has never been a member of a union like the United Kingdom is. This is a truly radical change for Britain that their modern economy has almost no experience with.
The desire to apply this amount of red tape where none currently exists is honestly mind-boggling to me. And who is this suppose to benefit? The United Kingdom's rate of unemployment is currently 3.8 percent so it's not as if the French are taking their jobs. In fact, the unemployment rate in France is significantly higher.
Boris Johnson is setting a deadline to complete Brexit negotiations by this time next year, but negotiating their way out of this close marriage is not going to be easy to complete in that amount of time.
It's as if Boris Johnson consumed the shit sandwich of the past few months and then decided to order more.