One of the more bizarre ideas post-Brexit has been reported by the FT:
Business leaders have outlined their vision of a London-only visa that would allow them to maintain access to foreign labour.
Under the proposals from the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, businesses in the UK capital would be able to sponsor skilled workers with a job offer for a visa.
Although the idea faces practical and political hurdles, the LCCI hopes that the UK's reliance on London's economic success, which is heavily dependent on immigrant labour, will persuade the government to consider it.
I work at City, University of London. I know of London's diversity. I know that maybe one in four workers in London are not British born. And I have no problem with that at all.
But the idea that London can somehow have an immigration system that is distinctly different from that for the rest of the country is bizarre. It harks back to the separate state that is the City of London. And it smacks of a claim for privilege and advantage that is wholly unacceptable when it is already the richest part of the country.
It is undoubtedly true that the UK cannot survive without migrant workers and their families. But it cannot tackle this issue alone and nor should it. If there is one part of the UK that does not deserve special advantages it is London. It really is time it realised that its job is to act in the interests of the whole of the country, not just that bit within the M25.
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By acting as the thin end of the wedge, using its muscle to drive through initial problems, London developing its own post-Brexit arrangements make sense, especially if it works with the EU around how it might be seen to comply with the four freedoms in the context of Article 1 of Lisbon on subsidiarity as first principle, and possible even TFEU para 355 (though this is initially more relevant to Northern Ireland).
So yes the passport idea is not quite right and should only be seen as a metaphor at this stage, but we should be encouraging work arounds to what will always be a total mess.
I say this from the North West, where LAs are starting to look at legal work arounds, including innovtive us of the Sustainable Communities Act 2007.
If we all work around….
An East Anglian visa might be of more use. We can live without chambermaids and baristas, but someone’s got to get the harvest home and I think the govt’s demand that young Brits roll up with their baskets is falling on stony ground. The farmers are already squealing.