Brexit: EU workers in UK rise

Official figures have suggested that the number of workers from eight eastern European Union countries has risen.

Following June’s controversial referendum, those from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia numbered 1,053,000 in July to September . This is 46,000 more than in the previous quarter.

Despite this spike in numbers, economic migrants from 14 other EU member states – including France, Germany and Greece – showed a quarterly fall for the first time in two years, down to 937,000 from 944,000.

These numbers are unlikely to please many voters and the politicians who voted because of their dismay with the freedom of movement within the European Union. However, it was predicted by other voters and politicians that there would indeed be a spike in immigration to the UK post-Brexit.

People are clearly taking the leap before it’s too late, assuming that once Britain has left, EU nationals still have the right to live and work here. Some may say this is a dangerous assumption due to Prime Minister Theresa May’s differing stance on whether or not to use EU nationals as bargaining chips in the Brexit process.