PM May's spokesman confirms free movement will end March 2019

Free movement of people between the UK and the EU will end March 2019, Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman has confirmed today.

This comes after members of May's cabinet were contradicting each other in recent days.

Last week chancellor Philip Hammond said there should be 'no immediate change' to immigration rules for at least until after 2022.

This was the same week when immigration minister Brandon Lewis said freedom of movement will end the month Britain leaves the bloc.

But PM May's spokesman has told reporters that it will end in March 2019.

"Other elements of the post-Brexit immigration system will be brought forward in due course, it would be wrong to speculate on what these might look like or to suggest that free movement will continue as it is now," he said.

Migrant labour

Rural groups such as the CLA fear a restriction in the availability of migrant labour for rural businesses.

44% of CLA members surveyed said they had experienced a reduction in the availability of migrant labour over the past year.

Almost 90% of respondents tried to recruit locally but the majority found it difficult to fill positions with British workers.

One in ten CLA members employ migrant workers in managerial positions, with almost a quarter of respondents saying they worked in skilled roles, such as training horses or operating complex machinery.