EU – Hinterland

Growers relieved after Home Office revises immigration rules

Ivan Annibal — Mon, 09 Sep 2019 05:24:26 +0000

The ever moving drama that surrounds Brexit is causing ongoing, unhelpful uncertainty for horticulture businesses. In that context this article suggests at least a ray of light! It tells us:

EU nationals will be allowed to live and work in the UK after 31 October even under a no-deal Brexit, the government has announced.

The Home Office announcement contradicts previous Brexit position statements which said the EU freedom of movement policy would end immediately after 31 October under a no-deal.

That position would have meant EU citizens could only enter Britain from November onwards on short-term visits, sparking concern over farm labour supplies.

However, the Home Office’s latest announcement sets out a range of measures termed ‘leave to remain’ that will replace the EU freedom of movement policy.

Leave to remain proposal

The policy will allow EU and Swiss workers, along with close family members, to enter Britain, even if they have not applied for settled or pre-settled status.

This initial free movement will only be possible for a transition period of 14 months until 31 December 2020.

After this date, any worker wishing to remain in the UK must have applied to stay under a new temporary leave to remain scheme.

NHS staff shortage: How many doctors and nurses come from abroad?

Ivan Annibal — Mon, 20 May 2019 04:18:42 +0000

We know that the lowest proportion of NHS staff per head is in rural communities. This story tells a worrying tale if one of the only ways of addressing that issue is through “poaching staff” from countries who can ill afford to spare them. It tells us:

The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) will soon begin a major campaign to recruit health workers from other countries to meet growing staff shortages.

Reports suggest a strategy has been drawn up to target a number of countries around the world, including poorer nations outside Europe.

One estimate in March this year said the NHS will need 5,000 extra nurses every year – three times the figure it currently recruits annually.

But what about the countries that it will recruit from – what impact will it have on them?

Where do non-UK staff come from?

The NHS already recruits globally to meet its staffing needs.

More than 12% of the workforce reported their nationality as not British, according to a report published last year.

The biggest group of foreign NHS workers are from the EU – 56 in every 1,000.

Support for EU membership ‘at highest level since 1991 with most Brits wanting to stay in’

Ivan Annibal — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 18:58:17 +0000

The EU, think of the £36 billion linked to CAP under the new programme, has a very significant impact on rural communities. I have seen lots of analysis about the previous potential party affiliations of those who have turned against Europe but nothing by way of a thorough-going spatial analysis. I have met many people who assume rural England is naturally anti-European. I wonder if this article, along with the many food processors in my part of the world who welcome EU migrant workers, might prove that such a simplistic assumption is mis-founded. Before you take the liberty of assuming a particular personal standpoint here, I will make it very clear here and now that I am interested in raising the issue of the range of political views about the EU in rural England, not declaring a personal allegiance one way or another. The article tells us:

Ukip’s recent clean-up at the European Elections, the swipes it seems to be making on the foundations of the Conservative Party and its clear populist style has, it appears, not made a dent in the level of support Britons have for EU membership.

In fact, new research by IpsosMori suggests that support for the European Union (EU) has grown and is at its highest since 1991, shattering perceptions that the UK is edging closer towards a swift exit from the single market.

The sample group had been asked which way they would vote should a referendum on EU membership be offered to them now.

Fifty-six per cent said they would stay in the EU – up from 44 per cent in 2012.

Thirty-six per cent said they would ‘get out’ – down from 48 per cent in 2012, while eight per cent said they didn’t know which way they would sway.