Jeremy Hunt says NHS needs EU immigrant workers amid claims of Cabinet Brexit row

The Health Secretary said the NHS will continue to rely on EU workers after Brexit

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt says the NHS needs EU workers (Getty Images)

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has defended the need for immigration from the EU after Brexit, amid rising cabinet tensions over freedom of movement.

Mr Hunt said any post-Brexit deal must serve the need for the NHS to recruit staff from all over the continent, adding “that is going to continue after we leave the European Union”.

He backed comments made by Philip Hammond and Amber Rudd who highlighted the need to avoid an immigration “cliff edge” that could starve both the public and private sector of skills.

The Chancellor and Home Secretary’s comments had sparked a round of infighting and accusations from senior Tories wanting the Government to stick to a tougher line on immigration.

But speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme Mr Hunt said: “It has to be a Brexit that works for business, it has to work for the NHS.

“The NHS needs to recruit doctors and nurses from all over Europe and that is going to continue after we leave the European Union.”

He added there would be no cliff-edge after Brexit and there would be an implementation period of no more than three years after the UK's exit in March 2019.

Mr Hunt denied there were deep splits in the Cabinet over Brexit, instead claiming there was unity on securing a deal that restores control over Britain's laws, borders and money.

But he indicated that the Government’s approach to Brussels had changed in recent months.

He went on: “If you look at where we are now compared to where we were a few months ago, we've sent some very positive messages to Brussels about what we want.

“The other thing that we are completely united on as a Cabinet is that we want Brexit to make Britain more global, and not more insular.”

Last week Mr Hammond signalled free movement would continue for a three-year period in all but name after Brexit, with an added element of migrants having to register in the UK, while Ms Rudd sought to reassure business there would be no migration “cliff edge”.

But tensions heightened after International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox insisted unregulated free movement of labour after Brexit would “not keep faith” with the referendum result and highlighted that the Cabinet had not agreed a stance.

Mr Hammond gave a further interview to French Newspaper Le Monde in which he downplayed claims Britain could try to become a Singapore-style low tax economy if it does not get the Brexit deal it wants, having himself suggested the move before the election.

He said: “I often hear it said that the UK is considering participating in unfair competition in regulation and tax.

“That is neither our plan nor our vision for the future. The amount of tax we raise as a percentage of our GDP puts us right in the middle of the pack.

“We don't want that to change, even after we've left the EU.

“I would expect us to remain a country with a social, economic and cultural model that is recognisably European.”