UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vows to increase immigration visa limits
The plan unveiled by Sunak would include a new cap on the number of visas that would be set by parliament.
London:
The ruling Conservative Party on Monday announced plans to impose new annual limits on work and family visas to cut immigration, while the opposition unveiled its own plan on a key election issue.
The plan unveiled by Sunak, who is likely to lose to Labour’s Keir Starmer in July’s election, would include a new cap on the number of visas, set by parliament each year.
Immigration is a highly controversial topic in this election, as 685,000 migrants entered the country last year, a figure which both main political parties have said is too high.
Although the figure is lower than 2022, immigration levels last year were almost three times higher than in 2019, when the Conservative Party won the last election with a promise to cut the number of immigrants.
Over the weekend, Starmer announced Labour’s plan to cut regulated immigration, which would see “bad bosses” who violate labour laws banned from bringing foreign workers into the country, and require employers to prioritise training Britons first.
Ahead of Tuesday’s head-to-head debate, where Starmer and Sunak will face off on key issues for the first time during their campaign, the prime minister’s new policy seeks to further differentiate his party from Labour.
“We have taken bold action to cut the numbers of people coming into this country. The plan is working, but migration levels are still too high, so we’re going further,” Sunak said in a statement.
He said: “The Conservative Party is the only party willing to take the bold steps necessary to cut immigration rates.”
The annual cap, which will be progressively reduced each year to reduce migration numbers, will not affect foreign students and seasonal workers.
More than 300,000 work visas were granted in the year ending March 2024, more than double the number of visas granted in 2019, according to official data.
The Tory government has introduced new rules this year to target regular immigration, including banning international students and social care workers from bringing dependents with them, and increasing the minimum wage for skilled worker visas.
Tighter rules led to a sharp fall in the number of health and social care visa applications in May, according to Home Ministry data, but care providers have warned the sector is struggling to fill thousands of vacancies.
Labour’s shadow home affairs secretary Yvette Cooper dismissed the proposed policy as a “meaningless announcement”.
The government has also targeted irregular migration through its flagship plan to send failed asylum seekers to Rwanda, which Sunak has admitted will not be implemented before the election.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)