"This measure is expected to impact 170,000 individuals" . . .
. . . who will be off to the EU within the next year, making a stonking big experience hole in what the government has available as far as expertise is concerned.
You've been told people don't like something, and you expect them to stay when their expertise is useful anywhere ? If they are intelligent enough to fend for themselves, they will not blink at the prospect of expatriation to a place that doesn't choke them in taxes.