British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised to tighten immigration policies and reduce the number of immigrants entering the country. He announced plans to implement a points-based immigration system reform.
Official data on Thursday, November 28th, showed that in the past year up to June 2023, the UK saw a record high net migration of over 900,000 people, significantly surpassing initial estimates.
Shortly after, Starmer held a press conference stating his commitment to reducing immigration numbers. The issue of high immigration levels has become a hot topic in the UK, as voters express concerns about the strain on public services due to the influx of people. On the other hand, industries such as healthcare rely on foreign workers for their operations.
“If we find clear evidence that certain industries are heavily reliant on immigration, we will reform the points-based system and ensure that relevant visa pathways, whether for skilled workers or shortage occupations, are in place,” Starmer said.
He also added that businesses should take responsibility for training individuals within the UK, and those failing to do so would be prohibited from hiring foreign workers.
Earlier on Thursday, data from the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that net migration for the year ending in June 2023 reached 906,000 people, significantly higher than the previous estimate of 740,000 people.
The ONS stated that by the end of June 2024, immigration numbers had dropped by 20% to 728,000 people, attributing the decline to changes in rules by the previous Conservative government, resulting in fewer family members accompanying those holding student visas to the UK.
The ONS further explained that the significant increase in immigration in 2023 was due to the availability of more data, information about visas for Ukrainians, and improvements in estimating immigration numbers.
Following Brexit, changes in visa policies led to a sharp decrease in EU immigrants coming to the UK. However, the introduction of new work visa regulations saw a surge in immigrants from India, Nigeria, and Pakistan, who could fill vacancies in healthcare and social care roles.
The points-based immigration system was introduced by the Conservative Party in 2021 post-Brexit, allocating points based on specific skills and qualifications and issuing visas only to those meeting the required points threshold.