Under the governance of the Conservative party, the number of visas available to migrants each year would be limited, according to the prime minister. The proposals of ensuing yearly restrictions would be decided upon recommendations from the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) that would be subject to a parliamentary vote for the first time. There has been no suggestion of any figures for a possible migrant cap, but Rishi Sunak has declared that his party is the only one willing to implement the necessary changes to reduce immigration should they win the July 4th election. Labour’s shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, criticised the Tories, pointing out that the Conservatives had already failed prior to this announcement. She also highlighted the increase in net migration and suggested that they were simply “rehashing failed announcements”.
Mr Sunak’s statement comes as Nigel Farage announced he was returning to lead the Reform Party, focused on decreasing immigration, which placed further stress on the Conservative party. Some Conservatives were unhappy with the previous immigration levels, with this policy seen as a main battleground between the Labour and Conservative parties in the current election. The Prime Minister expressed confidence that empowering MPs to rule on this decision would give voters faith that their views would count.
Mr Sunak accused Labour of welcoming illegal immigrants to come to the UK and making it a “global magnet” for said migrants. The cap would extend over all worker and family visas while excluding seasonal agricultural workers and other temporary work routes. Additionally, as outlined by the MAC, it would prioritise the economy and include thorough reviews of economic costs, such as public services’ impact, wages and productivity of migration. The policy is the fourth proposed cap, following similar attempts by Theresa May, David Cameron and Rishi Sunak in last year’s Illegal Migration Act.
Conservatives Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman criticised Mr Sunak last year for not taking enough measures to curtail legal migration. Braverman called the immigration figures a “slap in the face” and made calls for caps on health and social work visas, as well as an annual limit for net migration which were both ignored. Jenrick resigned from his position as an immigration minister, stating that the government’s plans did not go far enough, after previously outlining various measures, including visa caps. The flagship initiative of sending stranded asylum-seekers to Rwanda, a plan proposed by Mr Sunak, has been postponed until after the election. Yvette Cooper of Labour called the Tories’ announcement hollow and stated that the party had failed to address the shortage of skills and other failures within the immigration system. She declared Labour’s plan would pair the socioeconomic status of immigrants to mandatory training and job security procedures for British workers, while making it more challenging for unscrupulous employers to hire abroad
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