UK should lower planned salary cap for migrants, report says

Skilled workers coming to Britain should earn at least 25,600 pounds, lower than the existing proposed threshold, a government-commissioned report said on Tuesday while warning the planned overhaul of the immigration system could hit economic growth. With Britain leaving the European Union on Friday, the government is introducing the biggest shake-up of Britain's border controls in decades, ending the priority given to migrants from the bloc over those from other countries.

The Migration Advisory Committee, an independent body that gives the government advice, recommended lowering a minimum salary threshold for skilled migrants to 25,600 pounds ($33,648) a year from 30,000 pounds. It warned that all the new proposals would likely lead to lower immigration and economic growth, and recommended the government makes decisions soon on Britain's immigration system to allow companies enough time to prepare for its introduction in January 2021. ($1 = 0.7608 pounds)