Brexit Britain, beware: the supply of Europeans is drying up | Jonathan Portes
Back in 2007, Liam Byrne, then minister for immigration, decided to create a new, independent advisory committee to help the government set migration policy. He told me at the time that he hoped it would - as the monetary policy committee had done for interest rates - depoliticise the issue.
Things didn't work out quite the way he planned. Immigration continues to be at the centre of the political debate. And that means the work of the labour market economists who make up the migration advisory committee (Mac) is not just technical economic analysis, but has important political implications.
Related: Cutting EU migration very likely to hit growth - official advisers
Much will depend on the new evidence the MAC has commissioned to underpin its final report in September
Related: Britons in Europe 'entirely in the dark' over post-Brexit status
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