Thread by @andrewhesselden

1. A thread on taking back control of borders.

(Or not).

Unpacking the confusion.

2. The UK government claims to want to take back control of borders.

But did they mean control of settlement immigration? Or actual control of border crossings?

Do they even know what they want to control?

3. In reality, as a non-Schengen country, and as an island, the UK has always had full control of its border crossing points. UK is surrounded by water which helps. The only exception perhaps is the open Irish border but that’s down to the Good Friday Agreement not EU membership.

4. Of course UK has also had the ability to exercise control over settlement immigration. The EU FOM rules (that UK chose not to bother implementing) would have given them all the control they actually needed to manage permanent immigration from EU countries.

5. To see whether UK is limiting immigration more or less now than before Brexit you need to examine the criteria for access in the new points scheme. It appears the government can vary those criteria at will as suits them (not necessarily suits you) from time to time.

5. Brits settling in Spain or other EU countries etc (wanting to stay over 90 days) have always had to evidence a job/cash/healthcare even when EU members. (In recent years, UK also mandated healthcare but never actually asked immigrants to evidence it)

6. UK gov ministers love to confuse you by talking about border checks one minute and control of immigration the next.

7. But since Brexit almost nothing changed at the border.

Before Brexit EU citizens could stay as a visitor in the UK for up to 90 days (in practice 6 months actually).

After Brexit, it’s exactly the same!

8. But what about overstay?

Ever noticed how the UK doesn’t have outbound passport control?

How do they track people down who overstay?

Good question.

9. So Brexit has changed almost nothing about how the physical border to the UK is controlled. EU visitors are still welcome for up to 6 months per visit.

10. Technically multiple visits of 6 months in a year may lead to refusal, but with no stamping and no outbound passport control process how could this ever get controlled or punished?

11. So because of the rather more relaxed way that UK manages the border than EU countries, it’s rather looks like Brexit had changed nothing for EU visitors to the UK, yet for Brits queuing at the Schengen covering 27 separate countries it’s a very different experience.

12. At the moment every just accepts this is because of Brexit.

But we need to start asking questions of politicians about this bizarre “theatre” at our borders.

How does it improve safety and security for the people of the UK or Europe? Or is it merely performative.

13. Does it stop terrorists? Probably not. Does it stop people overstaying? Not really.

14. Does it cause big queues? For sure, yes.

Is it a huge inconvenience for frequent travellers? Definitely.

15. So what should be done?

Should the Schengen border be different for UK passport holders (and EU travellers in the reverse direction)?

16. To answer that you need to look at geography, economics, passenger numbers and immigration risk.

17. Do Brits present an increased immigration risk since Brexit?

Probably not.

What changed on 31 Dec 2020?

Is it harder for EU countries to track & deport Brits who shouldn’t be there? Maybe. But in practice UK and EU27 would likely cooperate.

18. And is it more expensive to find and track down EU citizens in the UK who shouldn’t be there? Probably, yes, but again, in practice, is the UK even bothering? Beyond a few dawn raids for show?

19. Soon ETIAS will come in and the UK equivalent. All that will mean is that innocent travellers will be paying £6 or €7 to have their personal details stored in a computer.

Will it reduce terrorism? Who knows?

Will it make us safer? I doubt it.

20. UK and EU have a unique window of opportunity to spare each other’s citizens all this border pain.

They just need to talk.

I’d like to see Sunak having honest and sensible conversations with Europe on this.

21. It’s ironic that the UK was a proponent of EES (the new border control computer of the Schengen zone) back in 2014. But in those days Brexit wasn’t on the cards.

So why? Did UK ministers plan to join Schengen one day?

We will probably never know.

22. Travel is good for cultural understanding. Mobility matters for British people as much as it does Europeans.

Border friction is bad for everyone.

23. Letting people decide where they live (separate to deciding where they work) avoids abusive employment situations where people’s right to live in a country is tied to their job.

24. I think it’s time we put Brexit to one side and asked what kind of border controls (and immigration controls) we actually want or even need for Brits and Europeans.

The current mess is surely neither desirable nor sustainable.

#SaveFOM

#BrexitInquiry #SaveFOM #BrexitDisaster #Travel #singlemarket #EU #CoFoE