Without the exemptions, the UK would have been an even bigger net contributor and would have had even more immigrants.
When a new country joins the union there’s always a grace period where countries can say “freedom of movement doesn’t apply to them, yet”. This is to avoid migration waves while still kinda poor countries catch up in terms of living standards which then reduces migration rates naturally.
The UK never made use of that. Westminster never used the mechanisms the EU gave them to control the flow of immigration. So, kindly, fuck off with your bollocks. This is precisely the kind of thing why the rest of the EU is apprehensive of the UK rejoining. The rest of Europe doesn’t like to play scapegoat for Etonians.
When a new country joins the union there’s always a grace period where countries can say “freedom of movement doesn’t apply to them, yet”. This is to avoid migration waves while still kinda poor countries catch up in terms of living standards which then reduces migration rates naturally.
The UK never made use of that. Westminster never used the mechanisms the EU gave them to control the flow of immigration. So, kindly, fuck off with your bollocks. This is precisely the kind of thing why the rest of the EU is apprehensive of the UK rejoining. The rest of Europe doesn’t like to play scapegoat for Etonians.