Free movement across Commonwealth countries strongly supported

 

If membership in the British Commonwealth today is to mean anything at all beyond some Games every four years, then it should, it must at minimum, mean this: EU-style free movement between Australia, Canada, NZ and the UK.

And, hey presto, “Australians, New Zealanders, Canadians and Britons would like the right to live and work in each other's nations without the need for a visa, a new poll suggests.”

The survey, carried out by The Royal Commonwealth Society, shows significant levels of support for a European Union-style system of free movement between the four nations.
    Seventy per cent of Australians were in favour of the idea with only one in ten opposed.
    Support was stronger among Canadians (75 per cent), New Zealanders (82 per cent) and people under the age of 35.
    The policy proposal was least popular in Britain, where 58 per cent of those surveyed backed it and one in five did not think it was a good idea.
    "I think it could work," said Lord Howell of Guilford, president of the Royal Commonwealth Society.
    "We need to welcome our friends with open arms when they visit us, and, in doing so, work to ensure as much free mobility as possible."

Those most in favour? “Young Commonwealth nationals in some of London's pubs.”

Those most oppposed? Who do you think: Politicians.

[Hat tip Australian Libertarian Society (ALS)]

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