Free movement in the EU and control of our borders
One or two very welcome guests below the line at Liberal Democrat Voice have challenged us to talk more about immigration in the context of the EU referendum. Because people want the UK to "take back control of our borders". So here we are. Of course we do have control of our borders. We are not part of Schengen, and there is nothing they could do to make us join. We have our own immigration policy, subject, as with all policy, to treaty obligations. The specific treaty obligation of interest here is the provision in the Treaty of Rome to allow the free movement of labour between members of the EU: a right exercised by 2.2m Brits living and working elsewhere, and by 2.3m other Europeans in the UK. Brexiters may also talk about the refugee crisis, but this is just an attempt to smear by association - the treaty obligations and benefits at stake in the referendum relate to the rights of EU citizens.
