What can be done?
Taking back control
Current inflows are huge. There is therefore ample scope for reducing the net inflow whilst still allowing skilled migrants to work in Britain.
Such measures will reverse some of the harm done by the government’s failure to control immigration and to stop abuse of our asylum system.
They will also encourage employers to boost productivity by improving pay, conditions, training, and investment.
Below is a summary of the steps that need to be taken:
1. Immigration for work
- Impose a cap on work permits.
- Return the skills requirement to graduate level.
- Raise the foreign worker salary requirement to £30,000 per year or more.
- Re-introduce the requirement that all vacancies should first be advertised in Britain before being advertised overseas.
2. Immigration for study
- Impose a cap on foreign students.
- Close the permission for foreign students to remain in Britain for two years after graduation.
- Bar foreign students from studying in Britain unless they win a place at an accredited university or college.
3. Immigration for healthcare
- Abolish the cap on British medical students and expand medical training places.
- Expand apprenticeship schemes, offering British nurses a direct route into the NHS, instead of going through the university system.
- Eliminate the NHS staffing crisis by improving pay and conditions within a fixed time period.
4. Immigration for family reasons
- Re-introduce the Primary Purpose Rule to guard against sham marriages and sham civil partnerships.
- Raise the combined income requirement for family visas to £30,000 or more.
- Raise the English language requirement for all family applicants.
5. Stopping asylum abuse
- Reject asylum claims for those who have passed through safe countries on their way to Britain.
- Reject all asylum seekers who have forged their documents or have deliberately destroyed them.
- Electronically tag all asylum seekers arriving illegally in the UK.
- Review our membership of the European Convention on Human Rights.
- Re-introduce the fast-track detention system.
- Reform the appeals process to stop spurious claims.