The biggest overhaul of immigration laws since Brexit is promised this week to tackle the “staggeringly high” number of migrants arriving in the Britain. The Government has pledged to set out “radical” reforms tomorrow which are expected to make it harder for lawyers to use human rights laws to thwart deportations. Further action is designed to end Britain’s reliance on low-cost foreign labour and the skilled visa threshold will be increased to graduate level.
But Reform UK leader Nigel Farage accused ministers of “tinkering around the edges” and said the plans are “doomed to fail”. The Conservatives said Labour is waving a “white flag” and called for the repeal of the Human Rights Act.
Measures are expected in tomorrow’s White Paper to make it more difficult for foreign criminals and failed asylum seekers to escape deportation using human rights law. It is anticipated ministers will change the law to restrict judges’ interpretation of the right to private and family life under the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Home Office is understood to fear that without bold action annual net migration will be around 525,000 from 2028 and not the 340,000 that had been expected. The Government is now vowing to bring an end to the “failed free market experiment”.
Reform’s Mr Farage was unimpressed, saying: “This new announcement merely tinkers around the edges. It’s also not just about what numbers come in but who comes in and if they can assimilate. This plan is doomed to fail.”
Under proposals which will be set out in full tomorrow, the skilled visa threshold will be increased to graduate level to bring down the number of lower-skilled workers coming into the country. Salary thresholds will also reflect the higher skill level.
Immigrants may also face tougher English language requirements and have to live in the UK for longer before applying for permanent residency.
The launch of the paper comes as Labour and the Conservatives are reeling from the success of Reform UK in the local elections. Mr Farage’s party won 677 council seats, two mayoralties and triumphed in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election.
A Techne poll puts Reform on 28%, ahead of Labour on 23% and the Conservatives on 19%.
Labour is promising to raise the bar on who can come to the UK and “establish tough new controls to restore order to a failed system”. Net migration last year stood at 728,000.
There will be “much tighter” restrictions on recruitment for shortage occupations. Employers will first have to develop “domestic training plans” – a move intended to boost British skill levels and increase productivity and living standards.
This comes alongside a pledge to end the “chronic underinvestment in domestic skills that has hindered economic growth”.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Migration must be properly controlled and managed so the system is fair. Instead, we’ve seen net migration quadruple in the space of just four years, driven especially by overseas recruitment.
“We inherited a failed immigration system where the previous Government replaced free movement with a free market experiment. Employers were given much greater freedom to recruit from abroad while action on training fell.
“Overseas recruitment soared at the same time as big increases in the number of people not working or in education here in the UK. The last Government lost control of the immigration system and there was no proper plan to tackle skills shortages here at home.
“This has undermined public confidence, distorted our labour market, and been really damaging for both our immigration system and our economy. Under our plan for change, we are taking decisive action to restore control and order to the immigration system, raise domestic training and skills, and bring down net migration while promoting economic growth.”
For occupations below graduate level, access to the immigration system will be “strictly time-limited” and only granted when there is “strong evidence of shortages which are critical to the industrial strategy”.
The Home Office boasts of having removed 24,000 people with no right to live in the UK since July last year – “the highest rate in eight years”.
It says the White Paper will deliver on Sir Keir Starmer’s plan to “reduce the staggeringly high levels of immigration”
But Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “This White Paper is a white flag… Labour ditched our plan to raise the family salary threshold, gutted enforcement powers, and now they’re boasting about returns built entirely on the back of Conservative groundwork. It’s utterly shameless.
“If Labour were serious about immigration, they’d back our binding immigration cap and back our plan to repeal the entire Human Rights Act from immigration matters. But they have got no grip, no guts and no plan.”