Britons back work visas for doctors after Brexit... but not for baristas

Britons were against baristas being given special visas
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Britons want skilled Europeans to continue to be allowed to work in Britain after Brexit — but are against baristas and bankers getting special visas.

Eight in 10 people said doctors and nurses should get work visas. Seven in 10 backed visas for academics and six in 10 said the same for IT experts.

There was also support for some less-skilled workers. Sixty per cent backed visas for care home workers — a two-to-one majority in support. More than half, 56 per cent, backed visas for seasonal fruit pickers.

On balance, people just backed construction workers coming from the EU, by 46 to 41 per cent.

But there was little support for the idea of a “barista visa”, floated by ministers recently. Only a third were in favour and slightly over half were against.

The country is divided on what constitutes a sustainable level of net immigration. Almost half backed numbers in the range of zero to 100,000.

About a third thought prices would rise if immigration were cut by a large amount, rising to 45 per cent predicting price rises in industries that employ a lot of overseas workers, such as the minicab, care home and food sectors.

People are split about whether inflation would be “a price worth paying” for the sake of lower immigration. Some 42 per cent agreed, while 37 per cent were against because of “the problems it would cause for businesses and consumers”.

Kully Kaur-Ballagan, head of immigration research at Ipsos MORI, said: “Despite Theresa May being more trusted on immigration than Jeremy Corbyn, the public is very sceptical that she can bring net immigration down to the ‘tens of thousands’.

“Even most Conservative supporters, who are so positive about her in other ways, think it is unlikely.”

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