Originally Posted by Ignitionnet

Genuine question, zero sass: would it be acceptable to anyone who is happy with Brexit for the UK to allow migrants from the EU on condition they were employed?

Not complete free movement of people, but free movement of labour only. It's been mentioned that this wouldn't be against the treaties and would allow UK membership of the EEA. The big hitters in the EU wouldn't be opposed to this as they do want to keep working and trading with us but at the same time cannot simply give us whatever we want. We had a pretty good deal in the EU, to the point where it annoyed a bunch of other members, our getting preferential treatment leaving would end the thing. While that may or may not be a good thing it's not something people negotiating on behalf of the EU are going to pursue.

So, free movement for those working. We could certainly accompany this with restrictions on welfare and/or changes to the tax system that disincentivise employing EU nationals rather than those from the UK. Would that be enough to make membership of the EEA palatable?