The Conservative Party’s 2019 manifesto also promised to bring overall numbers down, without setting a specific target, after the introduction of post-Brexit border controls…reports Asian Lite News
Labour has said it will not set an “arbitrary target” on cutting net migration. It comes after a shadow minister told the party hoped figures would reach a “normal level” of “a couple of hundred thousand a year” if it wins the next election.
Darren Jones said the numbers would depend on the needs of the economy. A Labour spokesperson said it expected its proposals would lead to a fall in net migration.
“Labour’s position hasn’t changed. As we have set out we will scrap the 20% wage discount, review the skilled worker salary threshold and reform the Migration Advisory Committee to link it to the bodies setting out industrial and skills strategy,” the spokesperson said after Mr Jones’ BBC interview earlier.
“As a result of these measures we expect net migration will go down, but we won’t set an arbitrary target unlike the Tories – who have never come close to meeting it.”
The Conservatives are under pressure to cut migration after new figures showed it reached record levels last year. Net migration – the difference between the number of people coming to live in the UK and those leaving – was 745,000 last year, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics, published earlier this week.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has described the figure as “shockingly high”, while Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has also said immigration levels are too high and need to come down “to sustainable levels”.
Labour has said it would increase the salary requirements for foreign workers to come to the UK, based on recommendations from the independent Migration Advisory Committee. Currently the annual salary threshold for a skilled worker visa is set at £26,200 but roles on the shortage occupation list can be offered at £20,960. Labour has said it would scrap this 20% discount if it wins power.
Back in 2010, Lord David Cameron, the former Tory prime minister who was appointed foreign secretary in the recent reshuffle, pledged to get net migration below 100,000 – but the commitment has never been met.
The Conservative Party’s 2019 manifesto also promised to bring overall numbers down, without setting a specific target, after the introduction of post-Brexit border controls.
The vast majority of those arriving in the UK in the year ending June 2023 were from outside the European Union.
Students accounted for the largest group of non-EU migrants, followed by those coming for work. The ONS said this could largely be attributed to people on health and care visas, with the sector facing chronic staff shortages.
However, it said provisional figures suggested the rate of net migration could now be slowing, with the estimated number falling back to 672,000 in the year to June.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Laura Trott said this was “positive news” but that the government was taking further steps to cut migration.
For example, earlier this year it announced new restrictions on students bringing family members with them to the UK, which come into effect from January.
Trott told the government’s long-term plan for the NHS workforce would also mean more people would be trained for jobs in health and social care. Tory MPs on the right of the party, including former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, have been calling for tougher measures to cut migration.
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