Tory announcement on free movement and schools

Responding to the Conservative Party’s claim that continued free movement would lead to 363,000 more children in state schools, Liberal Democrat Shadow Education Secretary Layla Moran said:

“After demonising EU citizens as benefit tourists two days ago, Boris Johnson has now shamefully turned his attack on their children.

“This attack is straight out of the Farage-Trump playbook. Not only is it cruel, it’s completely absurd.

“The Government’s own Migration Advisory Committee has shown that there is ‘no evidence that migration has reduced school choice or the educational attainment of UK-born pupils’. More than that, EU families in the UK pay billions more in taxes than they receive in welfare and public services. Our schools rely on over 20,000 teachers from the EEA too.

“Only the Liberal Democrats will stop Brexit, protect EU citizens’ rights and reverse school cuts so that every child can succeed in life.”

The September 2018 report of the Migration Advisory Committee concluded that “There is no evidence that migration [from the EEA] has reduced school choice or the educational attainment of UK-born pupils.”

The same report also reveals that:

• “There are currently around 11,400 and 13,100 EEA-born primary and secondary school teachers, respectively, working in the UK” (page 91)
• “In 2016/17, EEA migrants as a whole are estimated to have paid £4.7bn more in taxes than they received in welfare payments and public services.” (page 73)

This attack by the Conservative Party comes just two days after the Conservatives falsely claimed that preserving free movement would cost more than £4 billion extra in social security costs over the next 10 years.