Rishi Sunak has said there is “more to do” to bring down legal migration – as he comes under pressure from within his cabinet to crack down on visas for foreign NHS workers.
The prime minister is facing a backlash from senior Tories after new figures revealed migration is at an all-time high – despite a Conservative 2019 manifesto pledge to bring numbers down.
Sky News understands immigration minister Robert Jenrick is pushing for a five-point plan in order to help meet this promise.
Politics Live: Rishi Sunak admits ‘more to do’ to reduce net migration
The measures include raising the minimum salary needed to gain a work visa and a cap on health and social care work visas.
Mr Sunak dodged the question when asked if this is something he is considering, and what impact that would have on the NHS as it grapples with a recruitment and retention crisis.
However he did not rule out taking action, saying that net migration levels need to “come down to more sustainable levels”.
Politics news latest: Rishi Sunak admits ‘more to do’ to reduce net migration amid Tory backbench fury
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Speaking during a visit to car manufacturer Nissan in Sunderland, Mr Sunak said: “I’m very clear that the levels of migration are too high and they’ve got to come down to more sustainable levels. I’ve been clear about that.
“It is good to see that the ONS (Office for National Statistics) yesterday did say that the levels of migration are now slowing – in their words – which is a welcome step. But we’ve got more to go.”
He insisted the government was already taking action, pointing to his clamp down on foreign students bringing dependents with them.
“That action I took represents the single toughest measure that anyone has taken to bring down the levels of legal migration in a very long time,” he said.
“So that should give people a sense of my commitment to bringing migration down. And if we see further abuse of the system, of course we’re prepared to act to do more.”
Revised estimates from the ONS put net migration to the UK in the year to December 2022 at a record-breaking 745,000.
Earlier, Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride told Sky News one of the reasons migration is needed is to “support the labour market”.
He suggested the chancellor’s Autumn Statement, which included a controversial clampdown on benefits, would reduce migration by getting more people back into the Labour market.
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However, it is understood Mr Jenrick believes the government has to consider radical policy changes to bring numbers down.
His plan includes proposals drawn up by Suella Braverman before she was sacked as Home Secretary, and has the support of the Common Sense and New Conservative groups of MPs, according to The Daily Telegraph which first reported on the story.
The measures include a ban on foreign social care workers from bringing in any dependents and a cap on the total number of NHS and social care visas.
Mr Jenrick’s plan would also see the shortage occupation list scrapped, a programme that allows foreign workers to be paid 20% below the going rate in roles that suffer from a shortage of skilled workers.
There would also be an increase to the minimum salary threshold required to qualify for a work visa, from £26,200 to at least the median pay rate of £35,000 a year.
A final option being considered is to increase the minimum £18,600 income required to bring a spouse or dependant into the UK on a family visa.
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More bad news for the govt as ’embarrassed’ backbenchers demand action on net migration
Any measures to cap heath and social work visas would likely prove controversial, given the workforce crisis and the growing NHS waiting list.
Home Office figures published on Thursday show 143,990 health and care worker visas were granted in the year ending September 2023, more than double the 61,274 for the year to September 2022.
But some Tory MPs are furious at the migration figures, given the government has made reducing migration a central policy pledge since coming to power 13 years ago
In 2010, then prime minister David Cameron – now Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron – pledged to bring net migration down to the “tens of thousands”
In the 2019 manifesto, the Conservatives also pledged to “bring overall numbers down”, with Boris Johnson talking about 250,000.
Labour said the figures were a sign of the government’s “failure” on immigration.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “These figures are driven by a 54% increase in work visas and a 156% increase in health and social care visas which prove the Conservatives’ abysmal record on skills, training and workforce planning, as they have run our economy into the ground.”
