UK plans to end ‘failed experiment’ in immigration

The British government has outlined plans to end what it called the “failed free market experiment” in mass immigration by restricting skilled worker visas to graduate-level jobs and forcing businesses to increase training for local workers.

Under new government plans revealed on Sunday, skilled visas will be granted only to people in graduate jobs, while visas for lower-skilled roles will be issued only in critical areas such as construction and IT, and in return, businesses must increase their training of British workers.

British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said Labour had inherited a “failed” immigration system.Credit: Bloomberg

The Labour government said the changes would be part of a policy document, known as a white paper, to be published on Monday (British time), setting out how ministers plan to reduce immigration.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer is under pressure to cut net migration after the success of Nigel Farage’s right-wing, anti-immigration Reform UK party in local elections this month.

High levels of legal migration were one of the major drivers behind the Brexit vote to leave the EU in 2016. Voters were unhappy about the free movement of workers across the bloc.

After Britain left the EU in 2020, the then-Conservative government under prime minister Boris Johnson reduced the threshold to allow workers in categories such as yoga teachers, dog walkers and DJs to apply for skilled worker visas.

That triggered an explosion of applications, which have tripled since the scheme was created as a means for Britain to exert more control over its borders after leaving the EU.

“We inherited a failed immigration system where the previous government replaced free movement with a free market experiment,” British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said in a statement.

“We are taking decisive action to restore control and order to the immigration system.”

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Cooper said the new rules “must be respected and enforced. These changes are essential to end the chaos left by the Tories in the immigration system, and to regain control”.

Migration surge

While post-Brexit changes to visas precipitated a sharp drop in the number of EU migrants to Britain, new work visa rules and people arriving from Ukraine and Hong Kong under special visa schemes contributed to the immigration surge.

Nigel Farage addresses supporters and the media as Reform UK celebrates historic local election victories.Credit: Getty Images

Net migration, or the number of people coming to Britain minus the number leaving, rose to a record 906,000 people in the year to June 2023, up from the 184,000 people who had arrived in the same period during 2019, when Britain was still in the EU.

Figures published on Sunday show that the proportion of skilled worker visas below graduate level increased from 10 per cent in 2021 to around 50 per cent in 2024, the Telegraph reported.

Chris Philp, the opposition Conservatives’ home affairs spokesman, said the proposed measures did not go far enough.

He called on Labour to support a binding cap on immigration and his party’s proposal to repeal the entire Human Rights Act from immigration matters.

Reuters / Bloomberg

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.