Starmer pledges to reduce UK’s reliance on migrants

PRIME MINISTER Sir Keir Starmer vowed last Thursday (28) to reduce the number of migrants coming to Britain and announced plans to reform the points-based immigration system, placing the responsibility on businesses to train British workers.

Official data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that net migration reached a record high of more than 900,000 in the year to June 2023, much higher than the original estimates.

Figures revealed that Indians continue to lead the tally of migrants from outside the European Union (EU) in both student and work visa categories.

“Indian was the most common nationality for non-EU+ immigration in both work-related (116,000) and study-related (127,000) reasons in the year ending (YE) June 2024,’ the ONS said.

Starmer expressed his determination to reduce the numbers and attributed the issue to the policies of the former Conservative government.

“A failure on this scale isn’t just bad luck... No, this is a different order of failure... Brexit was used for that purpose to turn Britain into a ‘one nation experiment’ in open borders,” the prime minister said in London last Thursday.

“Where we find clear evidence of sectors that are over-reliant on immigration, we will reform the points based system and make sure that applications for the relevant visa routes, whether it’s the skilled worker route or the shortage occupation list, will now come with new expectations on training people here in our country,” Starmer said.

If businesses do not “play ball”, they will be banned from hiring overseas workers, he added.

Introduced in 2021 by the Conservatives following Brexit, the pointsbased immigration system assigns points for specific skills and qualifications and only grant visas to those who have enough points.

The ONS said: “India, Nigeria and Zimbabwe all show very low proportions of early leavers on work visas.” An “early leaver” is defined as an individual who arrives on a long-term visa, but does not stay for at least 12 months and therefore does not become a long-term migrant.

The government also warned last Thursday that employers who flout visa rules or fail to pay the minimum wage could face lengthy bars from hiring foreign workers.

Measures introduced under the government’s Employment Rights Bill – currently progressing through parliament – would double the sanction period for companies to two years.

Migration minister Seema Malhotra said the Labour government was committed to “ensure those who abuse our immigration system face the strongest possible consequences”.

Earlier last Thursday, ONS data showed net migration of 906,000 for the year to the end of June 2023, revised up from a previous estimate of 740,000.

Numbers did fall 20 per cent to 728,000 for the year to the end of June 2024, the ONS said, driven by declining numbers of dependants coming with those on study visas after the previous Conservative government changed the rules.

More international students tending to remain in the UK than in previous years, driven partly by the post-study graduate route visa introduced in 2021, is said to be among the factors behind the upward revision of migration figures.

“India and Nigeria show low proportions of early leavers on study visas, while China’s proportion is much higher,” the ONS said.

Starmer said, “I want to see immigration come down significantly and I said that before the election, I said that during the election, I’ll say it again here today. So that means bearing down on the influences that have driven it up this high.”

While he refused to set an “arbitrary cap” on numbers, the prime minister pointed to a series of measures that will crack down on “rogue employers” and also restrict visas that reflect an “overreliance on the easy answer of recruiting from abroad”.

Migration was a major issue at this year’s July general election when support for the Tories, led by Rishi Sunak, was hit by the party’s failure to deliver on promises to reduce the migration figures, with many voters defecting to the anti-immigration Reform UK party.

It continues to be a political hot potato as Starmer seeks to lay the groundwork for what he hopes will be 10 years in power by regularly criticising the Tories for the inheritance it bequeathed Labour.

Regular migration has soared since Britain formally left the EU in January 2020. In 2021, net migration was 488,000.

The number of undocumented migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the Channel stands at over 33,500, up around 18 per cent compared to the same period in 2023.

Numbers are down when compared to the figures from 2022.

Current Tory leader Kemi Badenoch admitted last Wednesday (27) (in anticipation of the latest ONS data), that the party must accept it made mistakes by allowing migration to hit record levels when the Conservatives were in power.

“On behalf of the Conservative Party, it is right that I, as the new leader, accept responsibility and say truthfully we got it wrong,” she said. Under her leadership, the Tories would advocate for tightening access to British passports and have “zero tolerance” towards foreign criminals staying in the UK, she said.

Former home secretary Suella Braverman said, “A 20 per cent drop in immigration since June 2023 is a result of the changes I fought for and introduced in May 2023 as home secretary. That’s when we started to turn the tide.”