The New Conservatives set out a 12 point plan to cut migration
Yesterday I spoke at the launch of the New Conservatives' Plan to Cut Migration, explaining how high levels of low-skilled migration into the UK has had a negative impact on wages, productivity, and living standards.
It's clear that the vast majority of British people want net migration levels to be lower than they are now and our Plan contains twelve practical steps to help reduce it.
Our addiction to high volumes of low-skilled, low-wages migration has meant that too many British businesses have failed to invest in British workers. We should be prioritising skills and training for our young people instead of opening the door to ever higher numbers of overseas workers. That's the best way to increase wages and living standards for people here in the UK.
The Prime Minister is being bold in the action he's taking to deter illegal migration, particularly through new laws that we're currently passing in Parliament, such as the Illegal Migration Bill, and I'll keep working to bring in the changes we need to reduce the levels of net migration overall, making sure we invest in the skills of British workers instead.
The Plan calls on the Government to:
- Close the temporary schemes that grant eligibility for worker visas to ‘care workers’ and ‘senior care workers’. This policy will reduce visas granted by 117,000 between those workers and their dependants, leading to a reduction in LTIM of 82,000.
- Raise the main skilled work visa salary threshold to £38,000 per annum. This could reduce LTIM by 54,000 migrants per year.
- Extend the closure of the student dependent route, which allows full access to the job market and is not subject to skill or salary thresholds, to students enrolled on one-year research Master’s degrees. Combined with the Government’s existing proposal, this could lead to a reduction of more than 150,000 visa entry clearance grants per year, reducing LTIM by around 75,000.
- Close the Graduate Route to students, so as to stop students staying in the UK after graduating for up to two years without a job offer. This should lead to a reduction of around 50,000 in LTIM per year.
- Reserve university Study Visas for the brightest international students by excluding the poorest performing universities from eligibility criteria. This could lead to a reduction of around 75,000 visas granted, leading to a reduction of 49,000 from LTIM.
- Continue to monitor the reduction in visa applications under the Humanitarian schemes and introduce caps on future humanitarian schemes should the predicted 168,000 reductions not be realised. 7. Rapidly implement the provisions of the Illegal Migration Bill, leading to a reduction of at least 35,000 from LTIM.
- Cap the number of refugees legally accepted for resettlement in the UK at 20,000, allowing provision for this to be lifted to respond to an unforeseen emergency, such as a natural disaster or war.
- Raise the minimum combined income threshold to £26,200 for sponsoring a spouse and raise the minimum language requirement to B1 (intermediate level). Such an income threshold is sensitive to the importance of family ties as it is still exceptionally low. It brings it in line with the current income threshold for main work visas that are based only on one income, rather than a combined income for two people. This should lead to an estimated 20,000 reduction in LTIM.
- Make the Migration Advisory Committee report on the effect of migration on housing and public services, not just the jobs market, by treating future demand on a par with labour requirements in all studies.
- Cap the amount of social housing that Councils can give to non-UK nationals at five percent until the number of British families waiting for housing clears.
- Raise the Immigration Health Surcharge to £2,700 per person, per year.
Taken together, these policies will help the Government honour its pledge, restore the confidence of the British public, and make sure the social and economic fabric of our country is not further damaged by unprecedented levels of migration.
Read more about our proposals in the full report here.
Gareth Bacon MP, Duncan Baker MP, Jack Brereton MP, Paul Bristow MP, Miriam Cates MP, Brendan Clarke-Smith MP, James Daly MP, Anna Firth MP, Nick Fletcher MP, Chris Green MP, James Grundy MP, Jonathan Gullis MP, Eddie Hughes MP, Tom Hunt MP, Mark Jenkinson MP, Danny Kruger MP, Andrew Lewer MP, Marco Longhi MP, Robin Millar MP, Lia Nici MP
