Brexit campaigners unveil points-based immigration plan

The statement says the ability to speak good English and skills-testing would be required for prospective immigrants

LONDON: Brexit campaigners on Wednesday unveiled plans for an Australian-style points-based immigration system for EU workers if they win a referendum next month to pull Britain out of the European Union.

"The automatic right of all EU citizens to come to live and work in the UK will end," read a statement from campaign leaders including former London mayor Boris Johnson, a Conservative heavyweight seen as a possible successor to Prime Minister David Cameron.



The statement said "the ability to speak good English" and skills-testing would be required for prospective immigrants under a plan to be put in place before the next general election in 2020.

Australia has a hardline policy on asylum-seekers but allows in skilled migrants, assigning points based on criteria including age, competency in English, occupation, qualifications and experience.

The system is designed to fill labour shortages.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper said the Vote Leave campaign statement "will infuriate Downing Street" because it represented a direct challenge to Cameron's authority.

Cameron has said he does not intend to step down even if he loses his bid for Britain to remain in the EU but leading Conservatives have said he may have to.

The "Vote Leave" campaign statement said the immigration plan would create "fairness" between EU workers and immigrants from non-EU countries including the Commonwealth.



It said there would be no changes for Irish citizens' right to work in Britain and for workers from other parts of the EU already in the country.

"Such a system can be much less bureaucratic and much simpler than the existing system for non-EU citizens," said the statement.

Immigration is a key issue in the campaign for the "Leave" side, while the "Remain" camp emphasise the economic benefits of staying in the EU.

There were around three million workers from other parts of the EU in Britain last year -- more than double the number from 2004, according to the Migration Observatory.