International | Immigration systems

What’s the point?

The countries that invented points-based immigration systems have concluded they do not work

|OTTAWA

BRITAIN’S Conservative Party was languishing in opposition when, in 2005, it hit upon a winning idea. If elected, it would introduce an “Australian-style points system” for work permits. So popular was the pitch that a Labour government created such a system three years later; the immigration minister, Liam Byrne, even flew to Sydney to launch the scheme, although it did not last long. Campaigners for Britain to leave the European Union repeated the promise this year. It was their most detailed policy proposal, and may well have carried them to victory.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “What’s the point?”

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