ENDING free movement after Brexit may not result in lower migration to the UK, according to a Lords report.
Ministers are yet to outline details of the proposed immigration system once the country has departed the European Union.
But the scheme is expected to impose restrictions on free movement rules as the Government attempts to reduce overall net migration to the tens of thousands.
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However, a report from the House of Lords EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee raises doubts about the impact of any restoration of national control over EU migration.
It points out that, until the referendum, net migration - the difference between the numbers arriving to live in the country and those leaving - was consistently higher from outside the EU.
This is despite routes from outside Europe being covered by a number of restrictions.
The wide-ranging assessment states: “Restoration of national control over EU migration may or may not, therefore, deliver a reduction in overall net migration.”
In the most recent official figures, covering the year to the end of September, it was revealed that both immigration and net migration from the EU were higher than that for the rest of the world for the first time.
Overall net long-term international migration was estimated to be 273,000.
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The Committee also concluded that cutting EU immigration is unlikely to provide a “quick fix” for low wages.
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