Political commentator Bob Lister gave his views on the UK's post-Brexit immigration policy in an interview with Sputnik.
Sputnik: What is your take on the UK’s proposed new points-based immigration system?
Bob Lister: We have to do something to limit the unskilled workers coming in that we don’t need, and we could possibly allocate work to seasonal workers, where they are needed. But when we flew in numbers of planes full of Romanian workers when people are furloughed or out of work and prepared to come and work - that was wrong.
I think the points-based system works in Australia and to a certain extent in most other countries. Like America, you can’t just go and live and work there, you have got to apply for a visa, have a job, money, insurance; yes, I think that the UK needs to toughen up.
Sputnik: Is the UK overpopulated?
Bob Lister: We have probably got around five or six million people here that are not British, and we welcome a lot of them who work and contribute to the NHS and other jobs; but there are an awful lot that don’t, and we are one of the most highly populated countries in Europe.
We’ve got nearly 70 million people in a very small area; we are a much smaller land mass than France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. We are just full, we have to do something, and that’s one of the reasons why our coronavirus pandemic numbers have been so high, because we are so densely populated.
Sputnik: Will the coronavirus pandemic affect the UK’s chances of brokering a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU?
Bob Lister: If we don’t get a deal by June, we have to just decide to leave under WTO rules. The EU need us more than we need them, of course; they export so much more to us than we export to them: cars, wine, cheese, you name it. They need us more than they know.
