The UK’s legal immigration system is more liberal than it was under the European Union, the immigration minister has said.
Robert Jenrick blamed a migrant points system introduced under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson for the “unsustainable” rise in those legally coming to the UK, and did not rule out putting a cap on visas.
Speaking at a fringe meeting at the Conservative Party Conference on Monday, Mr. Jenrick said a “substantial and sustained” reduction in numbers is needed, with too many low- and mid-skilled foreign workers taking jobs that should be done by Britons.
He confirmed he is working with Home Secretary Suella Braverman on potential measures to reduce net migration, which hit a record 606,000 last year.
Australian Cap
Speaking at the Policy Exchange meeting, the immigration minister said increasing the salary threshold for foreign skilled workers from £26,200 to around £34,500 was under consideration. This would bar migrants from lower-paid jobs and force employers to invest in training UK staff.He also suggested that the number of foreign care workers—currently standing at 120,000 a year—could be reduced and that there could be further restrictions on migrants bringing their families to the UK.
Asked by Australia’s former foreign minister Alexander Downer if he would consider an Australian-style cap on numbers, Mr. Jenrick said he “wasn’t opposed to the idea.”
Mr. Downer has previously advised the government on border controls.
The immigration minister admitted he was “nervous” about such a controversial idea, where the Home Office would “dictate to every sector of society how many workers can come in.”
But he added, “That does seem quite risky to me, and quite a statist approach, but I’m not opposed to the idea of a cap is the honest answer.”
Exploitation
His comments came just hours before the publication of a government-commissioned report advising that immigration rules on the hiring of foreign workers to plug gaps in the labour market should be abolished.The list is designed to help people from overseas fill vacant jobs on lower visa fees and allows their employers to pay them 80 percent of the role’s usual rate, down to a minimum of £20,960.
The MAC has previously said that this discount should be scrapped to prevent the undercutting of resident workers and the exploitation of migrants.
If ministers accept this key recommendation, the committee said, it would mean most of the roles currently on the list are no longer eligible as they would receive only a “negligible benefit” by being included.
The proposed change would leave mostly low-wage occupations eligible for the list, which the committee said raised “several concerns.”
Low-paid roles are more likely to see migrants exploited and will more likely lead to a net fiscal cost for the UK, meaning some of the burden could fall to the taxpayer, the MAC said.
The committee said it was not convinced the list provides a “sensible immigration solution” to labour shortages and recommended the government abolish it.
Lower-Skilled Workforce
The MAC suggested that instead, it could be commissioned to carry out standalone reviews of the role of immigration in certain sectors, such as manufacturing or hospitality.The committee recommended eight occupations for the 2023 UK-wide list—including care workers, lab technicians, bricklayers, roofers, and animal care services—but said “going forward” the scheme should be scrapped.
For the Scotland-only list, it suggested fishing and forestry managers and boat and ship builders be included.
Ms. Braverman was sent a copy of the report on Tuesday morning, ahead of her speech at the Tory conference.
Business chiefs have previously backed the SOL, calling for a more liberalised approach to immigration to boost economic growth.
But Mr. Jenrick has said employers should look to the domestic workforce rather than seeking “lower-skilled labour” from overseas, with figures showing net migration hit a record high last year.
Committee Chairman Professor Brian Bell said: “Our review recommends a total of 10 occupations be placed on the shortage occupation list. Going forward, however, we think that the government should work to abolish the SOL.
“The SOL has always played a relatively minor role in immigration policy, but recent changes to the immigration system have diminished that role further.
“We are not convinced that the SOL is an effective tool to address labour shortages across different occupations and sectors.
“We think a broader approach that focuses on all aspects of the labour market for a particular sector, of which immigration may be part, would be more beneficial.”
6-Fold Increase
The Epoch Times revealed last week how there has been an almost six-fold increase in the number of skill-related work visas for non-EU immigrants.In 2022–2023 alone, 159,000 skill-related work visas were granted to foreign nationals outside Europe—an increase from 27,000 permits issued in 2018–2019.
According to the government’s own statistics, between 2021 and 2023, nearly 60 percent of those were granted to workers considered to be in low-skilled jobs, including chefs, fishmongers, and poultry workers.
Of the 3 million lower-skilled immigrants granted work visas, over 62,000 were listed as working in the care system.
In that time, the share of skilled work permits being granted for below-graduate level jobs rose from 11 percent in 2021 to 62 percent in 2023.
The statistics were described as a “betrayal” of the Tory party’s 2019 manifesto pledge of bringing net migration down by focusing on bringing highly-skilled workers to the UK.
Alp Mehmet, chairman of campaign group Migration Watch, said, “Allowing immigration to continue at anything like present levels will change the nature of the country within a generation.”
“We need serious action now, there is no time to lose.”
Clash
The call to slash net migration sets up a potential clash between the Home Office and the Treasury, which has pushed the economic benefits of migration.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has previously sided with the Treasury, resisting Home Office demands for wider curbs on net migration.
Restrictions were limited earlier this year to a ban on postgraduates other than those doing research bringing their families to the UK.
However, Mr. Jenrick said the current rate of net migration placed “unsustainable” pressure on housing and local services.
“Where we’ve gone wrong is that immediately after leaving the EU, we established a legal migration system that was, if anything, more liberal than the system we had when we were in the EU,” he added.
He warned that the post-Brexit system was “not working” and said: “We have had an economic model, for many years now, which has been dependent on low- and mid-skilled people coming in.
“That has not led to higher productivity. It’s not generated higher GDP per capita. If it did, we would be one of the richest countries in the world.
“That’s why we do need now to finish the revolution that we started with Brexit by not just taking back control of those levers but actually exercising them so that we can make our own intelligent choices and reduce the amount of legal migration into the country.”
