PM under more pressure over immigration policies

THERESA May’s approach to immigration policy faced further questions amid reports she rejected pleas from Cabinet colleagues to ease restrictions on recruiting doctors from overseas.

The Prime Minister’s actions in Number 10 and her previous role as home secretary have come under intense scrutiny following the Windrush generation scandal.

Her efforts to create a “hostile environment” for illegal immigrants and measures aimed at reducing net legal migration have both been challenged.

New Home Secretary Sajid Javid has signalled a break from her past by distancing himself from the use of the “hostile environment” phrase, preferring the term “compliant environment”.

And a report in the Evening Standard suggested that as part of the plan to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands, Mrs May “refused to budge” over calls to lift a cap on the number of skilled workers allowed in the UK.

Health chiefs have warned that limits on the number of visas issued to doctors from countries outside the European Economic Area are contributing to delays in patients receiving care.

NHS Employers said there have been 400 cases of blocked visas since December.

The Evening Standard said Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and former home secretary Amber Rudd had urged the Prime Minister to lift the quota for cases such as NHS doctors, while Business Secretary Greg Clark wanted more exceptions for specialist workers.