Vote Leave's proposal today for an Australian-style points based immigration system has been described by the CER's deputy director Simon Tilford as "grossly misleading".
Tilford says: "if the UK were to adopt this system, it would be impossible to negotiate access to the single market after a Brexit. But Vote Leave campaigners fail to spell this out to voters. They also fail to mention that if the UK goes down this path, the EU is likely to reciprocate in kind, meaning that those Britons who want to work and study in the EU would face new visa or permit requirements."
John Springford, CER senior research fellow, added: "Vote Leave have implied that the Bank of England estimates the impact of EU immigration on the wages of low-skilled workers as 2% - according to the Bank of England’s research, the effect is actually 0.77% (see 5th bar of the chart below). Tax rises and benefit cuts since 2010 have reduced the incomes of the poorest by far more than immigration."
Notes for editors:
Simon Tilford and John Springford are available for comment to the media and can be contacted on:
simon@cer.org.uk, john@cer.org.uk or via 020 7233 1199.
For any other press enquiries, please contact the press office on pressoffice@cer.org.uk.