Britain eyeing curbs on EU migration, leaked document shows

London

BRITAIN is considering measures to restrict immigration for all but the highest-skilled European Union workers, a leaked government document said. Some companies are calling these plans alarming, and an opposition lawmaker described them as "plainly cruel".

Large flows of migrants from the EU were one of the reasons that some Britons said they voted to leave the bloc in a referendum last year, with one of the "Brexit" campaign's main slogans saying that Britain should "take back control".

But companies, especially those in the catering, social care and retail industries which depend on the steady stream of workers from abroad, said that they fear that a restrictive immigration policy after Britain leaves the EU will leave them unable to hire the staff that they nee…