Tyrone businesses speak out as Brexit day looms

VETERAN civil rights campaigner Bernadette McAliskey has given a cautious welcome for the apparent scrapping of a £30,000 salary threshold for immigrants coming to the North and the rest of the UK after Brexit.

The UK will officially leave the EU this Friday, more than three and a half years after the shock result which saw 51.9 per-cent voting in favour of leave.

With Boris Johnson securing a majority Tory Government in the December General Election, the Withdrawal Agreement Bill was passed in Parliament.

After Friday’s departure, the UK and EU will enter a year-long transition period, when trade, travel, immigration and a whole host of other arrangements will have to be finalised.

Last year, serious concerns were raised in Tyrone, when it emerged that the British Government was proposing that only those immigrants who can secure a salary of £30,000 and above, would be allowed to move to the UK.

Bernadette McAliskey who heads up the STEP organisation, and has been heavily involved in securing settled status for migrant workers already living in the North, said the proposal had serious implications for the North and the burgeoning engineering and agri-food sectors in south Tyrone which employ thousands from other countries.

“We are cautiously delighted with news that the Migrant Advisory Committee’s £30,000 Salary Threshold plans for new migrants coming to the UK appear to have been dropped,” said Mrs McAliskey.

“This was never a realistic proposal, not least given that our average salary in Northern Ireland is considerably less than the rest of the UK, which also falls short of £30k.”

She added, “We await now to hear more about the new proposed immigration systems post-Brexit and hope that they will work for businesses and communities across the UK.”

On Thursday, Sinn Féin MEP Martina Anderson voted in favour of the Protocol on Ireland, at the European Parliament’s Constitutional Affairs Committee.

“(This) committee vote will influence how the entire European Parliament votes on Wednesday (January 29),” she explained.

“There is no such thing as a good Brexit, but the Withdrawal Agreement and Protocol is the least worst option.

“Whatever happens at the end of the transition period in December 2020, even if the British crash out without a future trade agreement, the protocol on Ireland in the WA ensures there will be no hardening of the border that partitions Ireland.”

Ms Anderson added, “I believe one day MEPs from the North will be elected to the European Parliament again.

“In preparation for that day, the EU and member states need to plan and help facilitate the conversation on Irish Unity.”