Anneliese Dodds declined to say whether Labor would seek to reduce net migration in the long term if they win the next general election. Yui Mok/PA Wire
Migration could increase in the “short term” under a Labor government, the party chairman suggested.
The change could come as Sir Keir Starmer plans to fill labor gaps. , Anneliese Dodds said.
However, she insisted that the party would not set a goal of reducing the annual number of arrivals, saying it was “unwise.”
She has repeatedly declined to say whether Labor will seek to reduce net migration in the long term if they win the next general election.
Her remarks came when Rishi Sunak acknowledged that immigration to the UK is 'too high'. and set a new bar for himself – to reduce it to 500,000 a year.
Ms Dodds told Sky News: “If we had an immigration system that worked properly, maybe in some areas where there's a short-term need for skills, you might see more and more people in the short term.”
When asked what number her party would like to see each year, she replied: “Labour believes setting a net migration target is inappropriate.”
Sir Keir Starmer said Labor would not 'hold back business' where they need 'talent from abroad'. its “dependence” on foreign workers, “by investing more in training workers who are already here.”
He insists that his plans would “reduce” immigration in some sectors, but that would not “keep business back” where it needs “talent from abroad”.
Mr. Sunak vowed to cut net migration, but only to more than double what the Tories promised in their 2019 manifesto.
The PM said he was “committed” to bringing new arrivals down to previous levels. when he entered the number 10.
At that time, in October, net migration was about half a million people, but this figure is expected to rise to one million next week.
Boris Johnson ran in the last election. on the Tory manifesto, which committed to lowering net migration from 226,000 at the time.
Mr. Sunak's comments came days after he reneged on Mr. Johnson's manifesto commitments, repeatedly refusing to say that he would like to descend to this level.
Rishi Sunak — along with Georgia Meloni, Italy's prime minister at the G7 summit — defended the government's reputation on immigration. Credit: Stéphane Russo/Pool/Getty Images In the next election, the prime minister said he intended to lower the levels to those he inherited.
“I am determined to bring down the levels of migration that I have inherited and I am relentlessly focused on stopping boats. It's one of my top five priorities and we're doing absolutely everything we can to make it happen,” he said.
Mr Sunak told BBC News he's “crystal clear” and wants to reduce immigration , but when to what level, he said: “I will not give the exact figure, but I want to lower them.”
“The numbers are too high, and we want to lower them. down. Last year's figures were influenced by the fact that we welcomed Ukrainian refugees to the UK. Again, I think we're proud of it.”
Cabinet divided over immigration issues
The Prime Minister defended the government's policy on immigration, adding: “When someone comes here, we decide why they are here, what they do when they are here, that they contribute to the NHS.
“In fact, we control all these conditions in a way that we could not before.”
There are deep divisions in the cabinet over immigration: Home Secretary Swella Braverman, in her speech at a prominent Conservative conference, called for the training of more British heavy truck drivers and fruit pickers.
However, Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, argued that the UK should be “pragmatic” by filling the gap in key industries with foreign workers. up to 100,000 dependents of international students from coming to the UK in a bid to reduce net migration.
They are reportedly close to agreeing to a proposal to ban one-year undergraduates from bringing dependents to the UK. .
Official figures show that the number of spouses and children brought in by international graduate students has skyrocketed from 16,000 in 2018 to 135,000 last year, most of them undergraduates.
The plan was carried out. pushes Ms. Braverman, but other measures she has championed to reduce net migration have been blocked by Number 10 and the Treasury Department, including proposals to abolish two-year visas for graduates and raise the wage threshold for skilled workers.
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