Top Tories urge Rishi Sunak to slash migration by two-thirds

Top Tories urge Rishi Sunak to slash migration by two-thirds in plan to cut figures by 400,000 a year

• Net immigration ‘skyrocketed’ to a record 606,000 last year, new report shows

Leading Tories will today urge Rishi Sunak to slash net migration by two-thirds – presenting a plan to reduce numbers by 400,000 a year.

The New Conservatives lobby group will tell the Prime Minister the party must ‘honour the promise’ made in the 2019 manifesto to cut net immigration to below the level at the time, which was 226,000 people a year.

In a report today, the group points out that net immigration has instead ‘skyrocketed’ to a record 606,000 last year.

The senior Tories warn that without swift action ‘the Conservative Party will further erode the trust of hundreds of thousands of voters who lent the party their vote in 2019’. The new group, whose 25 MP members include Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson, set out a 12-point plan designed to slash numbers by ‘approximately 400,000’.

The report says: ‘The British public voted for a strong approach to migration. They did not vote for mass migration and the social and economic harms it brings.

The New Conservatives lobby group will tell Rishi Sunak (pictured) the party must ‘honour the promise’ made in the 2019 manifesto to cut net immigration to below the level at the time

‘Reliance on cheap international labour drives down wages for British workers and disincentivises businesses from investing in skills training or new technology. Mass migration also contributes to the housing crisis: Over half a million more houses a year are estimated to be needed to keep up with migration trends.’

The report will be seen as warning shot at Mr Sunak, who has said only that he will bring down numbers to the level he ‘inherited’, which is around 500,000, roughly double the amount at the last election. The report says that the points-based system introduced after Brexit has been ‘too lenient’ and now risks generating ‘destabilising economic and cultural consequences’.

It points out that a ‘temporary’ relaxation of the rules for foreign care workers, introduced during Covid, remains ‘despite the abatement of the pandemic’. Closing this loophole could reduce numbers by more than 80,000, it says.

In n the report’s plan is the ‘rapid introduction’ of measures in the Illegal Migration Bill, which could cut numbers by a further 35,000 by tackling the small boats crisis (File image)

READ MORE: Ministers brace for immigration to top 700,000 in figures TODAY – as poll finds Labour are more trusted than the Tories on the key issue

The report also calls for the minimum salary threshold for skilled worker visas to be raised to £38,000, potentially cutting numbers by 54,000 a year.

A further tightening of the rules for foreign students, including ending the right of graduates to work in the UK for two years after finishing their courses, could reduce numbers by 174,000 a year, the report says. 

It comes after Mr Sunak tightened student rules this year, including a ban on foreign students on one-year masters courses bringing in their dependants. Also in the report’s plan is the ‘rapid introduction’ of measures in the Illegal Migration Bill, which could cut numbers by a further 35,000 by tackling the small boats crisis.

Refugee numbers should be slashed and capped at 20,000 a year, it says, while hiking the immigration health surcharge from £624 a year to £2,700 would act as a disincentive for potential migrants.

The report reflects wider concerns in the Tory Party about soaring immigration levels, with one minister telling the Mail the Government has ‘taken [its] eye off the ball’ after the pandemic.

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