Braverman ramps up pressure on PM over migration, saying ‘It’s not bigotry to say too many people are coming here illegally’
- The intervention threatens to inflame government tensions in the immigration battle
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Suella Braverman will today pressure Rishi Sunak to limit net migration amid fears it could reach an all-time high of as much as one million.
The Home Secretary will use a speech to say that Brexit means Britain no longer needs to be so dependent on foreign workers.
She will say it is “not xenophobic” or “bigorous” to say that “mass and rapid migration is unsustainable” and that the country should focus on creating more opportunities for its own people.
The intervention threatens to inflame cabinet tensions amid a growing row over immigration.
At least one cabinet minister reportedly wants the salary threshold for skilled workers to qualify for visas to be raised from the current level of £26,200.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman (pictured) will use a speech to say Brexit means Britain no longer has to rely so much on foreign workers
In the year to June 2022, net migration reached a record 504,000, according to the Office for National Statistics. Pictured: migrants who traveled across the English Channel in an inflatable boat last year
Ministers are also drawing up plans to restrict visas for dependents of foreign students, after official figures showed some had secured six last year.
In the year to June 2022, net migration hit a record 504,000, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. But estimates suggest it rose to between 650,000 and 997,000 for the year to December. Official ONS figures will be published on May 25.
In their 2019 manifesto, the Tories promised that “overall numbers will fall,” thanks in part to Brexit and the introduction of a points-based immigration system.
Ms Braverman will give her comments at the NatCon conference in London, led by a right-wing Conservative think tank.
‘Highly educated employees support economic growth. Fact,’ she will say. “But we need to get the overall immigration numbers down.
“And we must not forget how to do things for ourselves. There’s no good reason why we can’t train enough truck drivers, butchers or fruit pickers.
“Brexit will enable us to build a high-skilled, high-wage economy that is less dependent on low-skilled foreign workers.
“That was our promise in the 2019 manifesto and what we need to deliver. It is not xenophobic to say that massive and rapid migration is unsustainable in terms of housing, services and community relations. It is also not intolerable to say that too many people come here illegally and apply for asylum and that we do not have enough housing for them.
“I’m not ashamed to say I love Britain. Not a real conservative. It is not racist for anyone, immigrant or not, to want to control our borders.’
She will also reject leftist arguments that it is “hypocritical” for ethnic minority people like herself to “speak these truths.”
Yesterday, Energy Secretary Grant Shapps said on Sky News that the arrival of refugees from Ukraine and Hong Kong may have added as many as 300,000 to Britain’s migration figures.
This is something Britain should be proud of, he added.
Mr Shapps stressed that this issue should be dealt with separately from plans to stop small boats crossing the Channel, which concern illegal rather than legal migration.
Yesterday, Energy Secretary Grant Shapps said on Sky News (pictured) that the arrival of refugees from Ukraine and Hong Kong may have added as much as 300,000 to Britain’s migration figures
Yesterday the Prime Minister pledged to purchase as many ships ‘as necessary’ to house Channel migrants arriving illegally in Britain. Pictured: The newly arrived ship in Falmouth, Cornwall
Yesterday the Prime Minister pledged to purchase as many ships ‘as necessary’ to house Channel migrants arriving illegally in Britain. He told The Mail on Sunday it was “not fair” for British taxpayers to foot the multi-million pound bill for accommodation in hotels.
Measures to limit the number of foreign family members joining master’s students at universities come after arrivals under that rule soared from 12,806 in 2018 to 135,788 in the year to December.
Sources in Whitehall say this month’s ONS figures will show net migration – the difference between those arriving and leaving – at 700,000 rather than nearly a million for the year to December.
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