Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the long-awaited Immigration White Paper would “restore control and order to the immigration system” – reducing overall numbers while boosting economic growth
Migrants will need to be qualified to graduate level get a visa to work in the UK under new plans to be unveiled on Monday.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the long-awaited Immigration White Paper would “restore control and order to the immigration system” – reducing overall numbers while boosting economic growth.
“Migration must be properly controlled and managed so the system is fair,” she said.
“Instead, we’ve seen net migration quadruple in the space of just four years, driven especially by overseas recruitment. “
To reduce the number of low-skilled migrants coming to the UK for work, the skills threshold for visas will be increased to graduate level, with salary thresholds increasing to match.
People working jobs below this level will only be able to come on a time-limited basis – and visas will only be granted in critical industries where there are shortages of staff.
Ms Cooper added: “We inherited a failed immigration system where the previous government replaced free movement with a free market experiment.
“Employers were given much greater freedom to recruit from abroad while action on training fell.
“Overseas recruitment soared at the same time as big increases in the number of people not working or in education here in the UK.
“The last government lost control of the immigration system and there was no proper plan to tackle skills shortages here at home.
“This has undermined public confidence, distorted our labour market, and been really damaging for both our immigration system and our economy.
“Under our Plan for Change, we are taking decisive action to restore control and order to the immigration system, raise domestic training and skills, and bring down net migration while promoting economic growth.”
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Official figures show net migration has soared since the UK left the EU in January 2020, reaching a record high of 903,000 in the year to June 2023 before falling back slightly to 728,000 in the following year.
Earlier this week, Downing Street said ministers are “focused on bringing down the last government’s record high levels of migration and tackling the causes behind it”.
Reports in the Times had suggested that among the measures under consideration were plans for migrants to need a higher standard of English to work in the UK.
While the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said he would not “speculate”, he said “proficiency and language and being able to communicate are of course essential parts of integration”.
The Financial Times reported that migrants will be required to wait as long as 10 years before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
Labour pledged a “fair” and “properly managed” immigration system in their election manifesto, but the tougher approach on immigration comes as support for Reform UK grows.
The party, which has positioned itself as tough on migration, won hundreds of local council seats and wrested control of the Runcorn and Helsby parliamentary constituency from Labour in the May 1 elections.