Cut net migration by two-thirds or lose voter confidence, Sunak warned

Rishi Sunak was asked to introduce 12 requirements to drastically reduce net migration. Rishi Sunak cut net migration by two-thirds ahead of the next election, otherwise he risks losing voters' confidence.

In a report that increased pressure on the prime minister, more than 20 MPs from the New Conservatives Group call on Sunak to deliver on the party's pledge to reduce net migration by the next election, which is expected in late 2024.

MPs including Lee Anderson and Danny Krueger have warned that the current record net migration of 606,000 undermines the confidence of hundreds of Brexit voters and needs to be reduced by more than 440,000 if the party is to save face for the next election.

These include raising the wage threshold so that migrant workers have to earn more, limiting foreign students to only the best universities, and further limiting the number of relatives they can bring with them.

2605 net migration

Report to be released Monday created a new headache for Mr. Sunak, who has struggled to fulfill his promise to halve inflation by the end of the year and has faced backlash from homeowners due to soaring interest rates.

It exacerbated his immigration problems after the Court of Appeal recently ruled that the government's plan to deport Rwanda was illegal.

The decision delayed the repatriation of flights to the African country until at least the new year, pending the outcome of a ministerial appeal to the Supreme Court.

The government faces further defeat in the House of Lords over the coming week on the illegal migration bill after peers voted last week on four amendments that one minister called an attempt to «destroy» the legislation.

Speaking on Saturday In a special edition of the BBC Test Matches, Mr Sunak said: “When I took on this job I knew it would not be easy. It was like the worst new job tray imaginable.”

In the foreword to the report, MPs wrote: “Voters supported Brexit in 2016, expecting immigration to decline. Now we are in danger of undermining the trust of the public, especially those who first voted for the Conservative Party in 2019.

“We need immigration to fall below 2019 levels, as we promised. This plan outlines how we can do this.»

Lee Anderson was among MPs who warned that the current record net migration was undermining voter confidence. Photo: David Rose for The Telegraph

MPs, many of whom represent Red Wall seats, have called for a review of the overly «soft» points system, which they say allowed companies to continue to rely on «cheaper international labor» and «cut wages for British workers». /p>

“If employers can find cheap labor from abroad, they are more likely to support flexible migration policies and less likely to invest in training British workers who can then demand higher wages,” the report says. from MPs and written by Tom Hunt, Conservative MP for Ipswich.

They have proposed raising the salary on the basic skilled work visa from £26,200 a year to £38,000, which would reduce net migration by 54,000 people a year, as well as abolishing 'temporary' visas for caregivers with a salary of just £20,960. sterling, which would reduce migration by 82,000 people.

Referring to the surge in international students at universities outside the elite Russell Group, they said that removing the “lowest-performing universities” from overseas recruitment would reduce net migration for 49,000 people.

“Our immigration policy should not be used to support the finances of underperforming universities,” they said.

“Migration must decrease—and quickly”

They also urged ministers to abolish two-year visas for graduates, which allow students to stay in the UK after completing their degree, reducing net migration by 50,000 people, and expanding restrictions on the ability of master's students to bring their relatives with them.

They called for an accelerated implementation of the Irregular Migration Act and a 20,000 people in the number of refugees legally accepted for resettlement in the UK.

“To restore the nation’s trust, migration must decrease—and quickly,” the report concludes.