Rishi Sunak is facing calls from the latest Tory caucus – ‘the New Conservatives’ – to take a series of steps to clamp down on legal migration. The group, made up of MPs from the 2017 and 2019 intake, formed last month and largely features MPs with so-called Red Wall seats.
Members include Tory rising star Miriam Cates as well as Lee Anderson (this has raised eyebrows as Anderson is deputy party chairman, which would usually prevent an MP joining a backbench pressure group). For their first policy push, the New Conservatives have released a 12-point plan which they claim would allow the government to cut net migration to Britain from 606,000 to 240,000 by the end of 2024.
Braverman has pushed for more measures to crack down on legal migration but has faced Treasury opposition
The measures suggested include stopping graduating overseas students from staying on in the UK for up to two years to find work (Boris Johnson relaxed this in 2019) and cracking down on the dependents a student can bring by closing the route that would allow family members access to the jobs market. They have proposed closing temporary schemes that grant eligibility for worker visas for industries, such as the care sector, deemed to be in urgent need of staff. They are also calling for the main skilled work visa salary threshold to be raised to £38,000.
The policy reflects the debate that has been taking place internally in recent months between the Home Secretary Suella Braverman and the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, backed by Education Secretary Gillian Keegan. Braverman has pushed for more measures to crack down on legal migration but has faced opposition from the Treasury because the economy relies on foreign labour in many sectors.
So, will the new group see any of their ideas adopted? It’s notable that ministers are not trying to slap it down. Speaking this morning, culture secretary Lucy Frazer agreed with the principle of the UK becoming less reliant on foreign labour – particularly in the care sector – pointing to Friday’s NHS workforce plan as an example of ways the UK can train up more workers.
However, there is likely to be disagreement is over the timing. Sunak has said legal migration is ‘too high’ but suggested that getting it below the number he inherited (around 500,000) would be his target for the next election. As part of his plan to do this, in May he announced that his government would remove the right of some international students to bring family members into the country.
These MPs clearly want him to go further – and it’s likely Braverman would agree. However, in government there is concern about the impact such steps would have on the economy as well as the state of social care if taken quickly.
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