Rishi Sunak speaks at second global business summit Photo: Chris Ratcliffe/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Rishi Sunak defends Britain's generosity rules graduate visas as he faces an escalating row within his party over immigration.
Speaking at the second global investment summit, the prime minister said the UK “does not have a monopoly on talent” and that the Liberal border restrictions, especially on graduates, are necessary for economic growth.
His comments came amid anger. among Tory MPs over record levels of net migration, which figures last week showed peaked at 745,000 in 2022, and demands in the House of Commons for the government to roll back human rights laws to return politics in Rwanda to the right direction. stop the boats.
His remarks risked sparking a cabinet rift with Kemi Badenoch, the business minister, who said she would push for the “strongest possible action” to curb net migration, including backing former home secretary Suella Braverman's calls for an increase in the minimum wage required for foreign citizens. workers will come to the UK.
Mr Sunak told the assembled business leaders that almost half of the UK's most innovative companies have immigrant founders. “So if you are an innovator, an entrepreneur, a researcher, you should know that the most competitive visa regime for highly skilled international talent is right here in the UK,” he said.
He outlined a new “high potential individual visa” that would allow graduates from the world's top 50 universities to move to the UK with their families for a two-year period. He added: “Nothing like this exists anywhere else in the world, and that tells you everything about our philosophy of innovation, growth and business.”
“Best country in the world”
“So these are the opportunities here, in the UK, so you have to believe me when I say that it is the best country in the world to invest and do business.”
Although Mr Sunak has admitted that net migration is “too high” and that the government needs to do more to bring it down to sustainable levels, there is pressure from the right-wing party and some ministers in his cabinet over his liberal stance and the need to take a tougher stance. position.
Ms Badenoch predicted “much tougher action will be taken in the future”, saying the current minimum wage threshold of £26,200 required for migrant workers to come to the UK is “too low”.
“We know that there are many levers, the salary threshold is one, dependents are another. I am, of course, in favor of us doing everything possible to reduce this figure to a sustainable level,” she said.
Michael Gove, the Leveling Up Secretary, admitted that the pressure from migration on housing was “worse” than had been portrayed. “This is a case where migration flows are putting more pressure on housing, but overall we haven't built enough houses for generations,” he said.
“This government is going to hit its million-person target.” . new houses in this parliament. But we need to move on.” He acknowledged that the government could not meet “the demand we have by concentrating only on abandoned land.”
In the House of Commons, James Cleverley, the Home Secretary, faced his first Home Office questions, where he was immediately challenged. ensure that the government's Rwanda bill allows for the non-application of international treaties.
Miriam Cates, co-chair of the New Conservative parliamentary group, welcomed the yet-to-be-published law and treaty, but asked for assurances that they would “override” » over the “interpretation” of international treaties.
Sir Simon Clarke, a former minister, said he was “profoundly convinced” that scrapping elements of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Refugee Convention would be necessary to tackle the problem of small boats crossing the English Channel.
Mr Cleverley warned over the weekend that leaving the ECHR risks undermining efforts to stop illegal immigration, said Rwanda's policy is not the “be all and end all” and urged people not to become fixated on it as it is part of a wider package.
He told Sir Simon that he had “listened very carefully” to his arguments and would “do everything possible” to get the arrival boat down.
He refused to make any commitment to waiving the ECHR, saying he did not want to “prejudge the contents of the bill, but added: “He is absolutely right: the deterrent effect of Rwanda is a key element of this multilateral approach.” /p>
A new Rwandan treaty, designed to protect the deportation agreement with the Central African state from further legal challenge, was expected “within days” of a Supreme Court ruling that declared it illegal.
However, Monday's issue 10 said only that both the Treaty and the bill declaring Rwanda a safe country for asylum seekers would be published in the “coming weeks”, and declined to say whether this would happen before Christmas.
The spokesman declined to comment on the reports that Rwanda is refusing to sign a treaty that would include British officials in its legal system.
Sources indicated that Rwanda was unlikely to accept “any attack on its sovereignty” under the treaty. any contract and will resist engaging Home Office staff to assist in processing applications.
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