Just get it done! Tory MPs warn 5-point migrant plan may not be enough

/ 12/04/2023

James Cleverly outlines his migration plan

Rishi Sunak has been warned that a five-point plan to bring down record net migration figures will not save his Premiership unless today’s announcements are inacted immediately.

As Tory Deputy Chairman Lee Anderson warned that the 1.4 million net migration of legal migrants was “alarming” ahead of the announcement, he and fellow MPs on the right pushed for the government to ensure new measures are brought in quickly.

Home Secretary James Cleverly today announced that the threshold wage for migrants will be raised from about £26,000 to around £38,000.

Student dependents will be banned unless they are post graduates on designated research, overseas care workers will also be stopped from bringing dependents.

The immigration surcharge will be raised to £1,035 and the 20 percent wage discount for shortage occupation list will be scrapped.

Mr Anderson told Express.co.uk: “I am pleased about the increase in the wage threshold because it means they will be paying more income tax when they get here.”

Fellow deputy chairman Brendan Clarke-Smith, the Tory MP for Bassetlaw, said: “It is what we have been asking for.”

Stoke North MP Jonathan Gullis welcomed the announcement, pointing out that many of the suggestions were in the New Conservatives document he helped produce.

But Dudley North MP Marco Longhi warned that the government needed to implement these measures quickly but also bring an end to illegal migrations and “stop that boats.”

He told Express.co.uk: “I support it – several elements were part of the New Conservatives’ plan for immigration. I would have liked to have seen this happen much sooner, but the focus now is to make sure all points are actually implemented and quickly.”

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He added: “So this is good news and evidence of delivery is key. The next step is to see the PM deliver on his ‘do whatever it takes’ to stop the boats.”

Meanwhile other critics of the government pushed for tougher measures with former Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg pushing for a migration cap.

Mr Cleverly warned that the “practicalities of a cap would be difficult.”

Grimsby MP Lia Nici, a leading member of the Common Sense Group, thanked the minister “for listening” but said that the new rules should enfoce “the conditionality of the visa routes” and clamp down on those who break the rules.

But one Tory MP warned that the measures “have come too late” and “will not be enough.”

Another added: “Letters are going in and we still do not have a plan to stop the boats.”

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With Labour MPs attacking the plans for a higher skill, higher wage economy, Mr Cleverly basked in the support of Tory backbenchers.

However, the Home Secretary needed to act quickly after the recent poll of Tory members saw him fall from top to 17th among most respected cabinet ministers since he was made Home Secretary just three weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Tory MPs have said more letters have gone in asking for a vote of confidence in Mr Sunak as Conservative leader as patience runs out on tackling both illegal and legal migration.

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