British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced plans to overhaul the UK’s immigration system after the Office for National Statistics revealed that net migration had exceeded 900,000 in the year to June 2023. Starmer blamed the previous Conservative government for failing to reduce immigration numbers despite promising to do so.
The current points-based immigration system, implemented in 2021 after Brexit, will be reformed to prioritize British workers. Starmer emphasized the need to reduce the country’s reliance on immigration in order to strengthen the economy. The Migration Advisory Committee is conducting a review to identify sectors over-reliant on immigration, and new expectations on training British workers will be enforced for relevant visa routes.
The government also plans to crack down on abuse of visa routes, with businesses failing to comply with regulations facing bans on hiring overseas labor. The UK’s immigration policies have long been a divisive issue, with concerns about strain on public services conflicting with the need for sectors like healthcare to rely on staff from abroad.
Following the record-setting peak in 2023, immigration numbers fell to 728,000 for the year ending June 2024, attributed to a decrease in dependants accompanying study visa holders. Additionally, an agreement has been signed between British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Iraq to combat people smuggling and strengthen border security, described by Starmer as a “world first”.
Source
Photo credit www.euronews.com