Britain’s troubled Conservative government outlined a slew of measures Monday aimed at reining in record levels of migration – a key battlefield in a general election scheduled for next year.
The United Kingdom declared that it would raise the minimum wage requirement for a skilled worker visa and prohibit foreign health and social care workers from bringing family dependents to the country.
The Prime Minister’s Office hailed the ideas as “the most severe crackdown on legal migration ever.”
However, detractors claimed that it would harm the state-run National Health Service (NHS), which is facing staff shortages.
Immigration is expected to be a major topic in national elections, which must be held by January 2025 at the latest and are now favored to be won by the main opposition Labour party.
Sunak has committed to curb new arrivals and has been under fire since data released last month revealed that net migration to the UK will peak in 2022.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the number of persons who arrived in Britain last year outnumbered those who left by 745,000.
According to Interior Minister James Cleverly, his plan will result in 300,000 fewer people visiting the UK in the following years.
“Enough is enough,” the home secretary said in parliament as he unveiled his plans, which will go into force early next year.
Cleverly stated that skilled foreign workers seeking a UK visa must make £38,700 ($48,860), an increase from £26,200 and in line with the median full-time income.
He excused health and social care workers, but stated they couldn’t bring family members.
Changes that would dissuade care professionals from coming to the UK, according to NHS Providers, which represents hospital groups in England, are “deeply concerning.”
Immigration, according to Care England, a charity that represents independent adult social care providers, has “saved the social care sector.” Brexit has increased staff shortages.
Cleverly also announced limits on international students bringing dependents and raised the minimum income for family visas to £38,700.
He reiterated that Britain would raise the surcharge for migrants using the NHS by 66 percent, to £1,035.
Critics argue that this effectively puts a double penalty on foreign workers, as employees must also pay National Insurance contributions, which go toward healthcare coverage.
‘Do or die,’ they say.
Cleverly went on to say that the government would overhaul the “shortage occupation list,” which lists jobs for which firms cannot find enough British workers.
The Conservatives won a landslide under Boris Johnson’s leadership in the last election in 2019, largely on the promise of reducing net migration levels.
The party has consistently stated that exiting the European Union, which eliminated free movement of people between member countries, would allow the UK to “regain control” of its borders.
However, since Britain formally exited the EU in January 2020, normal migration has skyrocketed. Net migration was 488,000 in 2021.
The ONS data increased pressure on Sunak to act from his own MPs, with some right-wingers claiming that the issue was “do or die” for the party.
In public polls, the Conservatives, who have been in office since 2010, trail centre-left Labour, which also thinks that regular migration is excessive.
Yvette Cooper, Labour’s home affairs spokesman, accused the Conservatives of being in a “chaotic panic” over immigration.
“Today’s statement is an admission of years of total failure by this Conservative government,” she told the House of Commons.
Sunak is also working hard to reduce the number of irregular arrivals crossing the Channel on small boats from northern France.
This year, approximately 30,000 people have attempted the perilous crossing.
The government considers such crossings illegal, but its much-touted proposal to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda was overturned by the courts last month.
Cleverly is scheduled to visit Kigali this week to finalize a new pact. The government has also stated that it is working on “emergency legislation” in order to begin deportation flights before spring.