Thread by @Helenreflects

Whatever happens, the UK is set to end freedom of movement after the transitional time (assuming there will be one and we won't crash out without a deal). I think there are serious reasons now to reconsider that decision. Thread. 1/

The Brexit white paper published today still would allow for visa-free travel and also would "support businesses to provide services and to move their talented people". Think about this for a moment. 2/
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…

On the face of it, it sounds great. Businesses can still hire people they need and move their talented people around. But when you think of it, it means more power to businesses and less power to workers, who already now are very disempowered compared to businesses. 3/

Suppose I'm a lecturer working in the UK (I am) but also suppose I just have a UK passport (I do not), and I don't like my working conditions. Now I can apply for a job in any of the EU27 countries without having to worry about visas, etc. if I get the job offer. 4/

This ability to up and move if I don't like it gives me power and agency. It increases my potential reach. Now the Brexit white paper doesn't allow for this possibility, only if I were working for an international company could I be stationed elsewhere in the EU27 5/

To see how free movement empowers British workers, I strongly encourage you to buy and read In Limbo Too (@InLimboBrexit) where I am co-editor.
That book is filled with stories of @BritishInEurope who benefit from freedom of movement 6/
amazon.co.uk/dp/1721674241/…

Here's just one example. This is an excerpt of a testimony from a man in his mid-fifties. He's not some high-flying executive but someone who risked to become a freelancer in Spain. He could do that thanks to free movement.

With the proposed white paper, any British person in this situation could not do this move anymore. Sure, they could still be stationed by their employer but he could never strike out on his own. That's because free movement empowers people, lack of free movement hems them in 8/

(brief digression - I still cannot fathom how @UKLabour can be on board with ending freedom of movement! I mean, freedom of movement is for us ordinary working folk, Brits and EU citizens. The propositions on offer are for the big companies. Come on @jeremycorbyn! 9/)

UK citizens will lose MASSIVE RIGHTS. Periodically, my UK friends on social media share an article about @guyverhofstadt who wanted to propose EU opt-in citizenship for UK citz after Brexit. That article is from 2016. After a while, they realize and are shattered. Brutal. 10/

Next to the loss of rights for UK citizens, here is a second reason to maintain freedom of movement: doing so opens the potential for a Norway deal or Switzerland deal, or just calling the whole thing off, which is much better than the current vassal state situation 11/

To recall: Norway is not in the customs union, so can negotiate free trade agreements through EFTA regjeringen.no/no/tema/naring…
And Switzerland has a bunch of own FTAs e.g., with China.
So if you have to pick, SM or CU, pick the SM for God's sake! 12/

Here is a third reason for not ending freedom of movement: UK citizens are now a lot more positive about immigration than they were in 2016.
See here "Social Attitudes survey shows most positive views on migrants since at least 2011"
ft.com/content/b9cfac… 13/

This picture shows how UK citizens have progressively warmed to immigrants, in spite of all the blustering and nasty smear campaigns of the Daily Mail, Express etc with their liquid metaphors (EU migrants flooding UK) and with their persistent linking of migration to crime 14/

Is this because people now think there will be fewer migrants and thus feel more tolerant towards them? No, this research by Rob Ford shows that also UK citizens who think migration will go up after Brexit feel more warmly towards immigrants
medium.com/@robfordmancs/… 15/

Also, since immigration net benefits the UK it is economically harmful to try to minimize it and to make life miserable for immigrants. So rather than pandering to UKIP-voters and to misconceptions, the UK government could educate people about these benefits 16/

But instead, they pander to anti-immigrant prejudices and are now set to
1. a massive loss of rights for UK citizens
2. a massive negative economic impact
3. a massive loss of sovereignty and decision power (the white paper does propose something of a subservient state to EU) 17/

This has no sense. UK government, wake up. Maintain freedom of movement. Empower your citizens. Enrich your country. Don't become a country where businesses and money can move but people cannot. /ENDS