Uncontrolled legal immigration will wreck the fabric of our society
Uncontrolled legal migration will lead to “unmanageable” pressure on housing, schools and hospitals, Rishi Sunak warned last night.
The Prime Minister vowed to bring down legal migration because when it is “too high and too fast” communities cannot integrate.
Robustly defending Britain taking a tough stance on immigration, Mr Sunak said Britain has a “proud history” of taking refugees.
Ministers are under intense pressure to slash immigration, as new figures published on Thursday are expected to show net migration has increased from 504,000 in the 12 months to June 2022 to more than 700,000 in the year to December.
Read more: Sunak ditches Tory Manifesto pledge to reduce immigration numbers from 220,000
“That’s unfair. It leads to unmanageable pressures on housing, schools and hospitals in many of our communities. And when it is too high and too fast, it can make it difficult for communities to integrate new arrivals,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
He said Brexit has given ministers the chance to “meet the changing needs of our economy and society or to respond to evidence of abuse or unintended consequences”.
The Prime Minister said: “The Office for National Statistics figures published at the end of 2022 show that net migration has risen significantly and is higher than it was before the pandemic.
“Some of this increase is a result of temporary factors, including a post-Covid surge and our resettlement schemes for those fleeing war and persecution. More than 174,000 have come from Ukraine alone. It was right that we opened our hearts and our homes to the Ukrainian people – and this paper was right to call for it.
“But part of the increase in net migration is a staggering rise in the number of dependents coming to the UK alongside international students.”
The Home Office yesterday announced foreign students will be banned from bringing family members to the UK in a fresh bid to bring down net migration numbers.
Officials say the move to ban foreign students from bringing their dependents with them will “substantially” cut net migration to the UK.
Mr Sunak also pledged to close loopholes that led to a “staggering” eight-fold increase in the number of dependents of foreign students.
Last year, the number of student visas issued to dependants stood at 136,000 – an eightfold increase from 2019, when 16,000 were provided.
The Prime Minister promised a crackdown on “unscrupulous international student agents” blamed for fuelling the boom by promoting “inappropriate” applications as an immigration route rather than for education.
He accused some universities of “selling immigration rather than education”.
Mr Sunak hinted students attending Britain’s top universities could be allowed to bring dependents, while other institutions will not be allowed.
“We will also look to explore…a system which differentiates between the quality of institutions – so that in time we could still allow our very best and brightest students to bring some dependents when studying at our universities while preventing institutions from selling immigration rather than education,” he said.
In the year ending December 2022, 486,000 student visas were issued to applicants – up from 269,000 in 2019.
Last year, the number of student visas issued to dependants stood at 136,000 – an eightfold increase from 2019, when 16,000 were provided.
But the Government believes changing the rules on foreign students bringing their dependents to the UK will help bring legal migration down.
Mr Sunak added: “Let me be clear.
“These changes are not about being anti-immigrant. We should never allow anyone to make that charge against us.
“No one could be prouder of our history of legal migration – from our place in the world as a sanctuary for the most in need to the generations of families who have come here, contributed here and made their home here.
“It’s a basic question of fairness and control. And I will always do what is fair and right. To me it is clear and unarguable: net migration is simply too high. I will bring it down.”
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