Sunak to face more pressure on migration
RISHI SUNAK will come under new pressure from thetory Right to commit to bringing net migration down to the “tens of thousands” following this week’s local elections.
Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick – who is considered a potential candidate in a future leadership contest – has co-authored a 100-page report entitledtaking Back Control.
He said: “For nearly 30 years, politicians have promised to control and reduce legal migration, only for numbers to spiral to historically unprecedented levels.
“This has been corrosive to the trust voters have in our democracy and politics.”
Latest statistics suggest that in the 12 months to June 2023, net migration for Britain was 672,000.
Mr Jenrick quit the Government in December, saying its legislation designed to thwart legal challenges to Rwanda deportations did “not go far enough”.
The report will be published in the days after the council, mayoral and police and crime commissioner elections onthursday, at which the Conservatives are widely expected to suffer significant losses.
Produced with the Centre for Policy Studies think tank, it will call for the introduction of a Migration Budget – with caps for numbers and specific routes to be set by votes in Parliament.
It will press for the UK to be the “grammar school of thewestern world”, attracting high-skill, high-wage migrants who will be “net contributors” to the public purse.
It will suggest the Government publish a Migration Book, similar to the Red Book provided by the Chancellor at each Budget.
That would examine the impact of migration on finances, housing, infrastructure and access to public services.
Mr Jenrick added: “Now we have left the EU, ended freedom of movement and taken back control of our legal migration policy, this can finally be rectified.
“The Government should introduce a cap on migration, voted on by Parliament, as a democratic lock on numbers.
“This is the only way to guarantee promises to cut migration will be kept and ensure all MPS are directly accountable to the public on such an important issue.”
Former health minister and co-author Neil O’brien said: “Since Brexit, we have the powers and control we need to bring numbers down to the tens of thousands – we just haven’t used them yet.
“Without some kind of overall cap on numbers, there is no discipline and no proper debate about the trade-offs between different types of migration.we need to bring back an overall cap to ensure migration is reduced to sustainable levels.”