When Im out on the doorstep a lot of people want to tell me immigration is important to them and they are thinking of voting Reform - but Reform don't have a better plan and being fed up about it wont solve the legal challenges .. but we have now solved all the legal challenges and the Rwanda Bill will not only provide a deterrent (as we have seen with the exodus to Ireland) but it also now provides a safe destination to send illegal immigrants to immediately while their claim is processed. If you come to Britain illegally you will not be able to stay. And Rishi has been clear that if we face any more challenges from the European Court of Human Rights then we choose our National Border Security every time. It's a plan thats so popular with other EU countries that they are looking to adopt it too.
Special Campaign Brief: Reducing Net Migration
Issue: On 13 June 2024, new visa applications figures showed visa application numbers are down across skilled worker, health and care and sponsored study by 30 per cent compared to last year.
- We have got the big calls right on emergency support for those affected by the war in Ukraine and those fleeing Hong Kong, but we know structural net migration is too high.
- That is why we are sticking to our plan to bring net migration down to sustainable levels. The latest data shows our plan is working with visa applications down by 30 per cent across skilled worker, health and care and sponsored study compared to last year thanks to our reforms that mean 300,000 people who came to the UK last year can no longer come.
- The choice is clear. Stick with the plan with Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives who will halve migration and bring it down every year after that, or Keir Starmer and the Labour Party, who would let 250,000 more people come to the UK every year, taking us back to square one.
Our plan to bring net migration down to sustainable levels is already working:
- Continuing to cut the number of visa applications across skilled worker, health and care and sponsored study by 30 per cent. Thanks to our changes to visa rules, visa applications across skilled worker, health and care and sponsored study were down by 30 per cent in January to May 2024 compared to last year. This is a further fall in in visa applications which fell by 25 per cent in the previous data release (Home Office, Official Statistics, 13 June 2024, link).
- The latest migration statistics show a 10 per cent fall in net migration last year. Long-term net migration (the number of people immigrating minus the number emigrating) was 10 per cent lower in the year ending December 2023, compared with updated estimates for the year ending December 2022 (ONS, Long-term international migration provisional: year ending December 2023, 23 May 2024, link).
- Bringing down the number of student dependents applying for visas by almost 80 per cent, ensuring net migration comes down to sustainable levels. The latest data shows just 79 per cent fewer student dependents applied for visas in January to May 2024 compared to the same period in 2023 (Home Office, Official Statistics, 13 June 2024, link).
- Driving down the number of health and care visa applications by 77 per cent this year, as we stick to our plan to deliver sustainable staffing levels in our NHS without relying on foreign workers. In January to May 2024, 77 per cent fewer people applied to for health and care visas compared to the same period last year (Home Office, Official Statistics, 13 June 2024, link).
- Ensuring 300,000 people who came to the UK last year will not be able to come under our new visa rules, securing a more sustainable level of immigration for the long term. In December 2023 we announced a plan to slash migration levels and curb abuse of the immigration system. Together, this will mean 300,000 people who came to the UK last year would now not be able to come (HO, Fact Sheet, 1 February 2024, link; Hansard, 25 May 2023, HCWS 800, link; Home Office, News Story, 2 January 2023, link).
- Changing the rules for international students and dependents as of 2024, helping to reduce net migration by an estimated 140,000. Students can bring economic contribution to the UK but should not be at the expense of our commitment to the public to lower overall migration and ensure that migration to the UK is highly skilled, providing the most benefit and helping grow the economy (Hansard, 25 May 2023, HCWS 800, link; Home Office, News Story, 2 January 2023, link).
Our Conservative Party Manifesto sets out our clear plan to reduce migration:
- Implementing a legal cap on migration, ensuring overall migration falls to sustainable levels. We will implement an annual legal cap on the number of visas that can be granted to those coming to the UK on work or family routes, taking into account public services and the economy. Temporary work routes such as Seasonal Agricultural Workers and students, would not fall within the cap (Conservative Party, Conservative Party Manifesto 2024, 11 June 2024, link).
- Bringing an annual vote to Parliament to set the immigration cap, giving Parliament a direct role in setting immigration levels for the first time. Government will put its proposed level, informed by the Migration Advisory Committee, to a vote in Parliament annually so MPs can vote on the annual level, giving Parliament a direct role in setting the level of immigration for the first time (Conservative Party, Conservative Party Manifesto 2024, 11 June 2024, link).
- Raising visa fees by 25 per cent, ensuing people who migrate to the UK make a fair contribution to fund public services. We will raise visa fees by 25 per which will mean Visit Visas will increase from £115 to £144, Skilled Worker Visas will rise from £719 to £899, Student Visas will rise from £490 to £613 and Family Visas will rise from £1,846 to £1,308 (Conservative Party, Conservative Party Manifesto 2024, 11 June 2024, link).
- Removing the discount for overseas students paying the Immigration Health Surcharge. Those coming to the UK for more than 6 months must pay the annual Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) to fund the costs of their healthcare to the NHS. Students and their dependents currently pay a discounted IHS of £776. We will scrap the discount, asking students to pay the standard IHS of £1,035 (Conservative Party, Conservative Party Manifesto 2024, 11 June 2024, link).
Labour do not believe in controls on immigration:
- Labour would let 250,000 more people come to the UK every year, showing they have no plan to get immigration under control. Labour would scrap the Rwanda Scheme and relax immigration controls which would mean 250,000 more people coming to the UK every year under a Labour government (The Daily Express, 25 February 2024, link).
- Keir Starmer believes all immigration controls are racist despite immigration being the third most important issue facing the country.When a lawyer Starmer claimed there was a ‘racist undercurrent’ which ‘permeates all immigration law’. YouGov has reported Immigration and Asylum to be one of the most important issues facing the country for almost two years (Socialist Lawyer, Immigration Law and Practice, 1988, archived; YouGov, 1 January 2024, link).
- Keir Starmer promised to bring back freedom of movement if he ever became Prime Minister but has now flip-flopped, showing he will say anything to get elected. STUDIO: ‘If you become Labour Prime Minister, will you bring back freedom of movement of EU citizens to the UK?’ STARMER: ‘Yes of course – bring back, argue for, challenge’ (Keir Starmer, Speech Q&A, 31 January 2020, archived).
- Labour’s refusal to bring down migration levels would see unlimited and uncontrolled immigration. Labour believe net migration targets are the ‘wrong approach’ and refuse to say whether a future Labour government would bring net migration down (Times Radio, 15 June 2022, archived; Laura Kuenssberg, 30 October 2022, archived).
Q: Sustainable migration?
We know that migration is too high. We have already taken action to cut the number of people who can come to the UK by 300,000 – this is starting to have an impact and numbers are starting to come down. But we know we need to go further. That is why we are sticking to the plan to cut migration to sustainable pre pandemic levels by implementing a binding, legal cap on immigration, set based on the costs and benefits, with a cap that falls every single year of the next Parliament and cannot be breached.
