THREAD. 1. We simply must stop seeing Freedom of Movement of People as a thing that causes mass immigration or that we must be scared of it. It avoids the need for “permanent immigration” & opens opportunities for British people and ensures our prof quals are recognised /...

2. FOM of people means it is as easy to take a job or live in Frankfurt as it is in Manchester or Bristol. FOM means you don’t need to immigrate permanently and keep your own nationality. /...

3. FOM of people does not mean scrapping passport control. (That’s Schengen and we’ve never been in it, but when you understand it properly, perhaps we should be) /...

4. FOM of people does not mean the government doesn’t know who is in the country. We have that data as passports are scanned and from flight advance passenger data and airline data. More recently also from health questionnaires. /...

5. FOM benefits younger workers coming to the UK and younger Brits going to other European cities to work. Nowadays you can often live and work in Europe even if you only speak English. Younger workers may go home after a few years /...

6. FOM lets independents, freelancers and remote office workers plus those who run their own business choose which country they live in. It brings in tax for the host country and spending so it’s good for them and good for British people wanting warm weather or variety. /...

7. FOM gives unemployed people the opportunity to look for work overseas when they can’t find work at home. That works both ways. Entitlement to benefits is very limited. /...

8. FOM lets people choose where they retire and gives them the right to move their pension and collect it anywhere. It’s good for the UK because healthcare is often cheaper. It’s good for host countries because retired people usually spend rather than save money. /...

9. FOM has always meant citizens should register their presence after 3 months and meet minimum income and healthcare insurance criteria before being allowed to stay. Some countries (the UK included!!) chose not to bother registering people like this. /...

10. Losing FOM harms the UK most of all because we lose a supply of workers to do jobs Brits don’t want to do, and we lose the freedom to choose any one of 32 countries in which to live/work/study/retire ourselves. Europeans only lose visa free work access to one country. /...

...please share and RT this thread to help people learn why having #FOM of people is nothing to fear and everything to celebrate.

Brexit treats people unfairly and unequally. (Remember people who can request or buy other passports are unaffected)

Here’s the thread again https://twitter.com/andrewhesselden/status/1321453865959673858