A report from the think tank, British Future, released on Monday showed that those polled "want overall immigration numbers to go down, while wanting to keep most flows of immigration at current levels."
The poll suggested 48 percent of the public want highly-skilled EU migration to stay at the same level it is now while 38 percent said it should actually increase. Of Brexit voters, 51 percent said they would be happy for high-skilled migration to stay the same and 31 percent said it needed to go up.
New British Future report, 'Time to get it right,' shows we can find common ground on immigration https://t.co/IQa34tigz8 pic.twitter.com/G7oXPDGobt
— British Future (@britishfuture) September 4, 2017
A majority was also in favor of low-skilled EU migrants working in jobs like construction, the hospitality industry and fruit-picking, where Britain could face staff shortages post-Brexit.
Attitudes to "lower-skilled migration" are more +ve when you mention specific jobs. From report by @britishfuture https://t.co/7QOEW8Aocd pic.twitter.com/x9PhsmAxnx
— Rick (@FlipChartRick) September 4, 2017
Three-quarters of those polled wanted the number of migrant care workers to stay the same or increase, an acknowledgement of the massive demand and the lack of supply due to low pay levels.
British Future's report says the immigration debate has been "noisy and divisive" and is a "symptom of low public trust" in successive governments' abilities to comptently manage immigration. Britons "want the government to do something about these issues, while having very little confidence in its ability to do so competently."
.@BritishFuture report shows public support separate targets for different types of immigration. Bright Blue has been calling for this also! pic.twitter.com/ylWRJYc5fm
— Laura Round (@LauraRound) September 4, 2017
Britain is set to leave the EU in March 2019 and immigration is a key part of the Brexit negotiations, which began in June.
