The UK government, led by Rishi Sunak, is raising the salary requirement for people applying to live in the UK from £26,000 to £38,700 to reduce net migration. James Cleverly, home secretary, also announced measures such as denying entry to family members of overseas care workers and ending the 20 per cent salary discount for certain workers.
The goal is to cut annual net immigration by three lakh in the future. Given that very recently bricklayers were added to the shortage occupation list to support the construction industry, this move is rather surprising.
Surging immigration has become a cause of concern, as recent stats show that 6,72,000 more people moved to the UK than left. The ministers see it as a failure to keep a Brexit promise. While the government focused on keeping a check on the arrival of small boats, legal migration has undergone a sea change since EU decided to exit in 2016. Most migrants now come through government programmes, such as refugee visas for Ukrainians and Afghans, work visas for health and social care workers, or students.
Net migration till June this year was driven by non-EU nationals, with 7.6 lakh more arriving than leaving. This is a significant increase from 1.79 lakh four years ago. Meanwhile, there was a net emigration of 86,000 among EU nationals. Stricter rules enforced by Britain’s prime minister faced criticism for potentially worsening economic challenges, including paucity of workers and inflation. The new rules preventing migrants from bringing dependents is now a cause for concern, especially for those in the social and health care sectors.
