UK politicians are discussing the numbers of people from around the world making the UK their home. Most politicians agree that “something must be done” about the issue, but blaming the current government’s new immigration system that has led to a sharp rise in immigration levels is not the solution. Politicians need to address a set of challenging questions to bring real change. For instance, they need to decide the appropriate level for immigration, considering the previous experiences of setting targets and failing to meet them.
Moreover, if politicians want to reduce the numbers of people coming to the UK, who will they say “no” to? Who would not welcome people like Ukrainians arriving after the Russian invasion? Who would not want to welcome the world’s best and brightest students who come to study in the UK? Who would argue that the UK should turn its back on Hong Kongers? Additionally, who could do the jobs that are currently filled by hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world if immigration is turned off?
In this regard, it is argued that for the government’s budget to add up, the economy needs immigration. Thus, it may not be plausible to completely turn off the immigration tap. Some politicians suggest that the only way to make a significant change in the migration numbers is to invest in the UK workforce. However, this is not an overnight solution, and UK politicians have been advocating the need to skill up the workforce, improve education and training, and invest in British workers for two decades.
The political challenges from inaction can be significant, given the ructions in the increasingly restless Conservative Party and what has gone before. Vote Leave insiders identify the day the migration figures were published during the EU referendum campaign as the moment they grabbed the momentum. Boris Johnson, who had previously been reluctant to take a harder line on migration, piled in, as did other conservative politicians.
The conversation over Channel crossings has been at the forefront of the political imagination for the last year, but that is dwarfed by the numbers of people making the UK their home perfectly legally. The pressure is on for politicians to come up with more credible answers to the challenging questions about immigration. Saying it’s too high again and again does not solve the problem. When voters ask the important question of whether they can trust politicians’ promises, the answer might be all too clear
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More