Tories go cold on plan to cut migration to tens of thousands
AMBER RUDD, the Home Secretary, has hinted that the Conservatives’ aim of reducing net migration to tens of thousands will not appear as a commitment in the party’s election manifesto.
Ms Rudd confirmed that the Conservatives were re-examining their target as she appeared to soften the party’s stance by describing immigration as an “absolute positive” for the UK.
Asked whether the “tens of thousands” figure that appeared in the 2015 manifesto would be repeated in the 2017 document, she said: “It’s not going to be identical to the last one. We’re setting it out for hopefully a five-year term. We’ve got a lot to think through to work out what’s the best way to deliver on our priorities.”
Conservative Party sources said the Prime Minister remained committed to reducing net migration to tens of thousands, but would not confirm whether it would be a manifesto pledge. Ms Rudd told BBC Radio 5 Live’s
Pienaar’s Politics: “My personal view is we need to continue to bring immigration down. I want to make sure that we do it in a way that supports businesses.”
Theresa May, Ms Rudd’s predecessor at the Home Office, has insisted she wants to see “sustainable” net migration, which she has defined as “in the tens of thousands”.
Asked whether she agreed with Karen Bradley, her Cabinet colleague who said immigration policy was “not about putting numbers on it”, Ms Rudd said: “It’s too early to say. I appreciate you want to push me on this but we are going to have to wait until the manifesto comes out.”
She said that the result of the EU referendum meant the situation had changed “so it’s right that we look at it again”.
Controlling migration has been one of the key themes of the Brexit debate, but businesses have been lobbying the Government hard to avoid strict curbs on migrant workers.
Ms Rudd said sandwich chains such as Pret a Manger must “do more” to hire British workers, after it emerged that only one in 50 of their applicants is from the UK. She said the Government would push Pret A Manger and other businesses to make sure “we look after people who are otherwise unemployed” rather than importing labour.
One boss of Pret A Manger told MPS in March that the firm would face a labour shortage after Brexit because too few British people want to work there.
But last month Clive Schlee, the chief executive, said attempts to recruit UK workers had yielded “very encouraging” results.
The Home Secretary said she had an open mind about proposals for “barista visas” that would allow young EU citizens to come to work for a limited period in sectors such as hospitality.
However, she said: “I did hear that Pret A Manger had come out and said it’s absolutely essential for us to have European workers because if we don’t we’re going to have to make more of an effort to recruit in the UK.
“Well, good. I’d quite like them to make more of an effort to recruit in the UK. So we will be trying to push them as well to do more in the UK.
“Them and all businesses, so that we make sure we look after people who are otherwise unemployed in the UK better”.
Ms Rudd did not specify how she would “push” the firms to recruit more UK workers, but one option would be to impose quotas of British staff on firms when free movement ends.