Rishi Sunak faces demands from his cabinet to act as net migration reached 745,000 last year Photo: No 10 Downing Street/BEEM < p>Rishi Sunak is facing demands from the Cabinet Office to tighten visa rules for foreign health and care workers after net migration hit a record high.
The Prime Minister sees the measure as part of a five-point plan. under pressure from Robert Jenrick, the immigration secretary, as Tory MPs demand “immediate and ambitious” action to implement the party's manifesto promising to cut numbers.
Net migration hit a record high of 745,000 in the year to December 2022, according to revised estimates published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday, three times the pre-Brexit level.
Newly released data also showed net migration of 672,000 by June 2023, up from 607,000 in the same period a year earlier.
Sella Braverman, the former home secretary, called the “unsustainable” figures a “slap in the face” ” the British public, who voted to reduce the level of migration.
The backlash threatened to overshadow Jeremy Hunt's attempt to regain the political initiative after he announced significant tax cuts in Wednesday's Autumn Statement, with right-wing MPs warning that record migration figures marked a “do or die” moment for the Conservatives. .
Miriam Cates, co-chair of the New Conservative group of about 20 MPs, wrote in an article for The Telegraph: “Failure to deal with this issue is more serious than failure to cut taxes or take too long to build hospitals – mass migration. changes the nature of Britain forever.”
Downing Street admitted net migration was too high and vowed to leave “no stone unturned” in tackling abuse of the visa system. A spokesman said the government was “actively considering” measures to curb net migration but played down hopes that the package would be ready by next week.
The surge comes as 1.4 million migrants, mostly from outside the EU, have received visas to enter the UK to study, work or flee conflict or oppression. The ONS estimates that 508,000 people emigrated.
Mr Jenrick's plan incorporates proposals made by Ms Braverman before Mr Sunak sacked her. It is supported by the Common Sense and New Conservative groups of MPs, who have warned that net migration poses an “existential threat”.
The proposals include a ban on foreign welfare workers bringing any dependents with them , as well as a limit on the total number of National Health and Social Services visas.
The move will pose a challenge for Victoria Atkins, the health minister. , in its attempt to clear a backlog in the NHS, with more than 100,000 vacancies.
Home Office data on Thursday showed the number of visas issued to foreign health and social care workers has more than doubled to 143,990 per annum. September. These migrants brought a total of 173,896 dependents.
It will also increase the minimum wage threshold foreign workers must earn to qualify for a work visa, from £26,200 to at least a median wage of £35,000 a year. This is estimated to reduce long-term migration by more than 50,000 people per year.
The plan eliminates the shortage occupations list, which requires firms to pay foreign workers 20 percent below the going rate for jobs where there are skills shortages. Its removal was recommended by the government's migration advisory committee over concerns it is being used to attract cheap foreign labour.
Option five would significantly increase the £18,600 minimum income required to bring a spouse or dependent to country. UK on a family visa.
The most likely measures are an increase in the salary threshold required for foreign skilled workers to come to the UK and restrictions on dependents, but there are concerns about the impact of any proposed cap on the NHS and medical visas, as well as the removal of the occupations shortage list.
NHS providers representing trusts in England said that “understaffing in the health and social care system depends on the contribution of highly valued staff from overseas.”
James Cleverley, the Home Secretary, said there had been some “important and positive changes” in the figures and that international students and health workers were now the biggest drivers of immigration, which “is testament to both our world-leading university sector and our abilities.” use our immigration system to prioritize the skills we need.”
He added that the Government would announce further measures “in due course” to combat “manipulation” of the UK visa system and target those who “took advantage of the flexibility of the immigration system”. But Ms Braverman, his predecessor, said: “Today's record numbers are a slap in the face of the British public, who voted to control and reduce migration at every opportunity. We must act now to reduce migration to sustainable levels. Brexit has given us the tools. It's time to use them.”
She said that as Home Secretary she had advocated for a year-long cap on net migration, raising the salary threshold to £45,000 – excluding health and social care – abolishing those two services. an annual graduate visa, a limit on the number of health and social care visas and a cap on the number of dependents on all visas.
Her criticism was echoed by others on the right of the party, including Sir Simon Clarke, a former Cabinet minister, who said: “ This level of legal immigration is unsustainable from both an economic and social perspective.
“There is no public mandate for this, it is beyond the ability of our public services to support and it undermines productivity and wages in the UK by replacing cheaper foreign labour.”
Jonathan Gallis, a former minister, said the figures were “completely unacceptable” and would “rightly outrage” the British people.
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