Thread by @Helenreflects

So let me get this straight: Jacob Rees-Mogg, apparently so appealing that he's a plausible candidate for PM wrote in a letter to @Andrew_Adonis that ‘I do not believe there should be any special terms for EU migrants,’ 1/

And Rees-Mogg also wrote, 'Once we have left the EU there will be no legal basis to treat them differently from migrants from non-EU countries'. Now what would concretely happen if this were actual UK policy (e.g., in the absence of a deal) 2/

It would be absolute chaos. Millions of people would not be qualified to stay either because they earn less than 36k or their British spouse earns less than £18,600. Those people would then concretely be asked to leave the UK.
If they did not they'd be detained or deported 3/

The remaining ones, who make over 36k (I'd be in that situation) or have spouses who are rich enough could stay, but it would require formal applications for a spousal visa or a Tier-2 visa, or perhaps a Tier-4 visa for current students from the EU. 4/

This would generate chaos and huge amounts of red tape for their employers.
Since UK immigration rules are so complex it would also require detailed documentation and applications, and immigration lawyers to help applicants deal with all this 5/

Imagine the concrete situation of hundreds of thousands of people being detained or deported, and leaving the country, leaving employers in the lurch.
Imagine furthermore hundreds of thousands of visa or ILR applications, requiring lawyers etc.
Imagine the state of the country 6/

So many British employers (farming, hospitality, academia, NHS, retail) depend on EU citizen workers. Just imagine the chaos having to regularize those employers, and of course losing vast numbers of them because they can't stay.
Has Rees-Mogg thought through all of this? 7/

No he hasn't. It will all be a piece of cake for him apparently. That and getting goods from God knows where without any checks because once we leave the single market. It will all be peachy and breezy.
Truly, the level of ignorance of MPs is staggering 8/

This reminds me of Karen Bradley, MP, who was given the position of Northern Ireland secretary because she was a "safe pair of hands" yet did not understand how NI politics works 9/

Her excuse? The photos of over 20 years ago from that place were a bit scary.
I'm not a UK citizen.
I can't even vote here.
Still, I've looked up how NI politics worked when I came to live here because I felt it was my duty to know something about the country I'm living in 10/

When the DUP propped up the Tories after their misjudged snap election I looked up articles and info about them too.
And I read the entire Good Friday Agreement when all that stuff on the Irish border came up.
Really, it's not rocket science. Start with Wikipedia 11/

How can UK elected representatives be so blatantly, so shockingly ignorant about UK politics, the basics of trade and immigration law?
Why do we tolerate this level of ignorance? I despair. /ends