Labour’s immigration crackdown: key points explained
Details of Sir Keir Starmer’s major crackdown on migration with big changes to citizenship rules have been revealed.
The Prime Minister will unveil a radical White Paper this morning, aimed at making it more challenging for individuals to settle permanently in the UK.
But Labour estimates that the reforms would reduce the number of visas issued by around 50,000.
So what will the PM announce? Here are some of the key points:
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will be handed new powers to streamline the deportation of migrants.
Currently, foreign criminals are only reported to the Home Office if they receive a jail sentence, with deportation typically considered only for those given custodial sentences of over one year.
Citizenship rules tightened
Most migrants will need to reside in Britain for at least ten years, not five, before they can apply for settled status and begin the path to gaining full citizenship.
Meanwhile, eligibility for skilled worker visas will now require a higher salary threshold or graduate-level qualification.
Additionally, Ms Cooper has promised “to bring in a new fair pay agreement” to make care professions more attractive to UK workers.
Elsewhere, employers will be allowed to recruit temporary lower-skilled workers using the points-based migration system in sectors such as IT and construction, but they must prove they are training British workers through apprenticeships and training programmes.
Financial documents will be scrutinised more intensely and access to taxpayer-funded accommodation such as hotels will be limited.
Only those who show a “lasting contribution” to British society through their tax returns or outstanding public service will be entitled to permanent residency.
Downing Street is reportedly reviewing how the “right to a family life” contained in Article 8 in the European Convention on Human Rights is applied in immigration cases.
Last month, Ms Cooper told the BBC “ad hoc” decisions by the courts have driven the way in which the law is interpreted “rather than having a clear framework set out by government”.
She successfully appealed against an immigration tribunal’s decision last year to halt the deportation of an Albanian criminal partly on the grounds that it would be “unduly harsh” on his 10-year-old son, who refused to eat “chicken nuggets that are available abroad”.
