Economic security

CBI warns May that immigration shakeup could harm economy

Theresa May must avoid making any new immigration system too bureaucratic or risk harming Britain’s businesses, the CBI director general Carolyn Fairbairn has warned.

Sources suggest ministers hope to negotiate a Brexit deal that would allow the government to control high- and low-skilled immigration.

But Fairbairn issued a stern warning to Downing Street, saying a new, tougher system outside the EU could create an unmanageable burden for employers and deprive firms of the workers they need.