[Cherie]

Media captionTheresa May: "A points-based system does not give you control over immigration"
Theresa May has rejected a points-based system for controlling EU migration, one of the key promises of Leave campaigners during the referendum.
Speaking in China, the PM denied she had "gone soft" on migration and said people backed Brexit because they wanted "an element of control".
A points-based model would not let the government control arrivals, she said.
Ex-UKIP leader Nigel Farage said many people had voted Leave for the policy, backed by Boris Johnson among others.
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Mrs May is attending the G20 summit of world leaders in Hangzhou, her first international summit as prime minister.
Although Mrs May supported remaining in the EU, she has said that the Brexit vote must be respected and suggested that curbs on the current free movement of EU citizens into the UK would be a red line in future negotiations with the EU.
But speaking to journalists in China she dismissed Vote Leave's proposal of an Australian-style points system for deciding the number of skilled and unskilled workers who could come into the UK every year from the EU and beyond - with numbers to be determined by MPs.
Rather than giving the government control, such a system would allow anybody into the UK if they met the criteria, she said, adding that curbs on student visas had been a more effective measure to reduce immigration.
"I want a system where the government is able to decide who comes into the country - I think that's what the British people want. A points-based system means that people come in automatically if they just meet the criteria," she added.
'Vote for control'
Her spokesman said: "The precise way in which the government will control the movement of EU nationals to Britain after Brexit is yet to be determined. However, as the PM has said many times in the past, a points-based system will not work and is not an option."
On Sunday Mrs May suggested a points-based model was not a "silver bullet", adding: "You have to look at the whole range of issues, not just how you bring control through the rules you have for people coming in, but also making sure you are rooting out abuse in the system and dealing with people if they are discovered here illegally."
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Mrs May also indicated that EU citizens may continue to have preferential rights to live and work in the UK after Brexit.
She said people "wanted to see an ability to be able to control the movement of people from the European Union. And obviously that's what I say, not free movement as it has been in the past".
During a series of interviews, Mrs May also declined to guarantee the UK would use money saved by leaving the EU to spend another £100m a week on the NHS or cut VAT on energy bills.

[LeatherTrumpet]

in other words


Lets BUILD THE WALL

[the truth]

she sounds more confused and indecisive than dave

[the truth]

meanwhile obama is still demanding TTIP....hes gone way down in my estimation

[joeysteele]

I am impressed with her for that actually.
At least there is one major thing demanded in the EU vote by the leaders of 'leave' that has now been soundly discarded by her.

[smudgie]

I wonder what she has in mind, if the points system doesn't give her/us enough control then she must have something in mind that does

[joeysteele]

Originally Posted by smudgie

I wonder what she has in mind, if the points system doesn't give her/us enough control then she must have something in mind that does

I doubt it, and I doubt anyone else in govt knows.
She knows this is a long and really difficult process coming up,no one at present and even David Davis in the Commons this afternoon, seem to have a single idea where to begin or really what to end up with.

Personally,I can see the EU dictating ,in the end,most of what is eventually secured as the best deal possible.

If she is true to her word on this, I am pleased to hear her say she wants National consensus on this issue, that is good, if she sticks to that.

[the truth]

why dont they start by simply agreeing across europe to prevent ILLEGAL immigration and put all measures in place to stop it

[joeysteele]

Originally Posted by the truth

why dont they start by simply agreeing across europe to prevent ILLEGAL immigration and put all measures in place to stop it

Makes you wonder 'the truth', that should have been done ages ago.

[the truth]

because its been a deliberate policy by the elite to drive down wages for the massive corporations

[bitontheslide]

because central europe is land connected, historically, it has always been free movement there, they can't control borders the same way that we can as an island. So, its just normal for them. Europe can't stop illegal immigration ... we can.

[the truth]

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

because central europe is land connected, historically, it has always been free movement there, they can't control borders the same way that we can as an island. So, its just normal for them. Europe can't stop illegal immigration ... we can.

they can a bit and in thie environment they simply must control the illegal immigrants....though clearly its more difficult in most european nations

[jaxie]

I would imagine as a former home secretary she has some insights about immigration and probably has some ideas. They were saying in another report yesterday that she'd tried some sort of points system before as home sec and scrapped it as being ineffective.

I can also sort of understand the lack of information at present. I would imagine they are still working out strategy and also it's not the best idea to let the other negotiating side all the eggs in your basket at this stage before official talks begin. I hope that's it anyway and not that they have no ****ing clue.

[Toy Soldier]

But Australia has the best immigration policy in history; a shining Brexit beacon for us all to aspire to emulate . What do you mean we're not doing it?

[Cherie]

EU referendum and Brexit
Brexiters are missing the point of Australian-style immigration
It is bizarre that Conservative leave campaigners want a system that would actually double immigration to Britain

It is wrong to say that Britain has no control over its border with the rest of the EU - more than 6,000 undesirable EU nationals have been turned back since 2010. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images
Alan Travis Home affairs editor
Wednesday 1 June 2016 13.26 BST Last modified on Tuesday 19 July 2016 13.04 BST

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It has always been a bit of a mystery why the British Tory leave campaigners want to introduce an Australian-style immigration system that is designed to increase that country’s population and which even Migration Watch has said would be a disaster if copied in Britain.

[bitontheslide]

Perish the thought that we actually have a leader in charge that knows what she is talking about

[MTVN]

Originally Posted by jaxie

I would imagine as a former home secretary she has some insights about immigration and probably has some ideas. They were saying in another report yesterday that she'd tried some sort of points system before as home sec and scrapped it as being ineffective.

I can also sort of understand the lack of information at present. I would imagine they are still working out strategy and also it's not the best idea to let the other negotiating side all the eggs in your basket at this stage before official talks begin. I hope that's it anyway and not that they have no ****ing clue.

She didn't try it but there was a points based system in place for non-EU migrants between 2008-10 which May scrapped when the Tories came to power

[jaxie]

Originally Posted by Cherie

EU referendum and Brexit
Brexiters are missing the point of Australian-style immigration
It is bizarre that Conservative leave campaigners want a system that would actually double immigration to Britain

It is wrong to say that Britain has no control over its border with the rest of the EU - more than 6,000 undesirable EU nationals have been turned back since 2010. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images
Alan Travis Home affairs editor
Wednesday 1 June 2016 13.26 BST Last modified on Tuesday 19 July 2016 13.04 BST

Share on LinkedIn Share on Google+ This article is 3 months old
Shares
1,330
Save for later
It has always been a bit of a mystery why the British Tory leave campaigners want to introduce an Australian-style immigration system that is designed to increase that country’s population and which even Migration Watch has said would be a disaster if copied in Britain.

I think and I'm not an expert on this by any means, that people confuse the points system with being why Australia has large immigration. Australia is a huge country and needs more immigration it's not the actual system they have that causes the size but because they want those people to come. I don't know why May doesn't like that system but I am sure there is some documentation about them already having tried it and why it wasn't liked.

I don't care what system we adopt but I do think we need some control over our borders, I think everyone does in the current world climate. Plus the free movement of people is an impossible and ridiculous system which will always be unfair because people want to go to wealthy countries so countries like UK get an imbalanced share of migration than other places which then puts strains on services.

Having said all that I didn't want to leave the EU over movement of people and the leave campaign meant diddle squat to me as my mind was already made up prior to their being a referemdum.