British Home Secretary James Cleverly announced the five-point plan on Monday, saying it would lead to the “biggest ever reduction in net migration.”
Migration to this country is far too high and needs to come down.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the provisional estimate of net migration for the year ending June 2023 is 672,000, which is lower than the same estimate for the year ending December 2022.
Outlining the government’s new plan, Cleverly stated that they were taking “more robust action than any other government before” to bring down the “far too high” migration figures.
“Our new immigration plan will mean we decisively cut net migration and create a system that works for the British people.”
He noted that the new measures, together with a reduction in the number of foreign graduate students who would be allowed to bring family members to the UK, would result in 300,000 fewer people coming to the UK in coming years.
The government announced earlier this year that starting from January 2024, international students would be banned from bringing family members with them to the UK unless they were involved in a postgraduate research programme.
The new plan will also mean that foreign care workers will not be permitted to bring family dependents with them. The UK will further require care firms to register with the Care Quality Commission to sponsor visas.
Furthermore, the government will increase the earnings threshold by a third to £38,700 ($48,891) from next spring for those using the skilled worker route, which is consistent with the average full-time wage for these types of jobs. Cleverly stated that they would withdraw low-paid overseas labour, putting an end to shortage occupations that could pay 20 per cent less than the current rate.
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper lambasted Cleverly’s announcement, saying the Conservative government had “no serious plan” for the nation.
Today’s statement is an admission of years of total failure by this Conservative government, failure on the immigration system and failure on the economy.
Cooper argued that instead of the promised reduction, migration had tripled as a result of the Conservative Party’s economic policies. She argued that the new plan should be clearly linked to the immigration system, training, the economy and employment schemes.
“None of which are included in the statement today, because they have no grip, no proper plan (…) The Conservatives are in chaos. They’ve got no serious plan for the economy, no serious plan for the immigration system, no serious plan for the country. Britain deserves better than this.”
