Starmer: UK must wean itself off migrant labour
Days of low pay and dependence on foreign workers are over, Labour leader to insist
BRITAIN must end its economic dependence on immigration, Sir Keir Starmer will say today as he toughens the Labour Party’s stance in a speech to business leaders.
In a significant intervention, Sir Keir will tell the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference that the days of “low pay and cheap labour” are over.
The speech will be seen as an attempt to quash any suggestion that the Labour leader would emulate his predecessor Tony Blair’s looser approach to immigration if he reaches No 10.
Sir Keir is trying to convince voters that he is reconciled to Britain’s future outside of the European Union as he targets winning back former Labour Red Wall seats at the next election which voted en masse for Brexit.
He will tell business leaders: “I want to be clear here: with my Labour government, any movement in our pointbased migration system, whether via the skilled occupation route, or the shortage worker list, will come with new conditions for business.
“We will expect you to bring forward a clear plan for higher skills and more training, for better pay and conditions, for investment in new technology.
“But our common goal must be to help the British economy off its immigration dependency. To start investing more in training up workers who are already here.
“Migration is part of our national story – always has been, always will be. And the Labour Party will never diminish the contribution it makes to the economy, to public services, to your businesses and our communities.
“But let me tell you, the days when low pay and cheap labour are part of the British way on growth must end.”
Labour’s plan for government is coming under more scrutiny after it opened up a poll lead over the Tories of more than 20 percentage points, leaving the party favourite to win the next election, which is expected in 2024.
Sir Keir has been trying to address areas where Labour was perceived to have become out of step with the wider public under his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, including on migration.
Sir Keir favours an Australian-style, points-based immigration system, as demanded by Brexiteers in the 2016 EU referendum and as has since been implemented by the Tories. He also wants to give the Migration Advisory Committee, an independent body that assesses labour shortages in the economy and gives policy recommendations, a greater role in decision-making.
The message echoes that adopted by successive Tory prime ministers, including Boris Johnson and now Rishi Sunak, who argue training Britons to fill skills shortages would be more advantageous than increasing visas for overseas workers.
But Sir Keir has so far declined to call for the overall immigration figures to be brought down – something which the Tories promised in their 2019 election manifesto and which Mr Sunak repeated support for during his trip to the G20 summit in Bali last week.
The Office for Budget Responsibility, the Government’s independent eco- nomic forecaster, last week said annual net migration would remain above 200,000 for the years to come.
David Cameron had pledged to bring net migration below 100,000 during his premiership but failed, which became a point of attack for his Tory critics.
Mr Sunak yesterday declined to expand on his approach to legal migration, when asked at the CBI, instead saying his focus was tackling illegal small boat crossings in the English Channel.
The Prime Minister also told the conference that Britain needed to embrace automation and robotics in order to boost productivity and drive growth.
RISHI SUNAK has ruled out forging closer trade links with the European Union if it means following diktats from Brussels, but has signalled the Government would open the door to more highly skilled migrants in order to boost the economy.
In the clearest indication yet that the UK will not seek a Swiss-style trade deal that relies on following EU rules, the Prime Minister said regulatory freedom was one of Brexit’s biggest benefits.
“Let me be unequivocal about this,” Mr Sunak told the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) annual conference in Birmingham. “Under my leadership, I will not pursue any relationship with Europe that relies on alignment with EU laws.”
He also said that Brexit had enabled “proper control of our borders”, vowing to tackle illegal immigration and “give the British people trust and confidence that the system works and is fair”.
He said: “I voted for Brexit. I believe in Brexit and I know that Brexit can deliver, and is already delivering, enormous benefits and opportunities for the country. Migration being an immediate one, where we have proper control of our borders and are able to have a conversation ... about the type of migration that we want and need.”
The Government is relying on a surge in net migration to help drive growth as innovation slows. The Office for Budget Responsibility predicted net migration would settle at 205,000 a year from 2026 on, significantly higher than the long-term goal of Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, of less than 100,000.
Mr Sunak also told the CBI that it was important UK rules governing financial services and trade were “fit for the future”. He added: “Having the regulatory freedom to do that is an important opportunity of Brexit.”
Andy Briggs, chief executive of the insurance giant Phoenix Group, which owns Standard Life, said EU red tape had contributed to a UK investment deficit.
He said the decision to depart from EU rules on insurers would free up to £50 billion of capital to invest in the UK economy. “The regulations were getting in the way of that, and those regulations are being changed,” he said.
Mr Sunak also noted that the UK was in discussions about joining a global trade pact with economies including Canada and Japan. He described the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement
‘I know Brexit is already delivering enormous benefits ... migration being an immediate one’
for Trans-pacific Partnership, signed in 2018, as a “fantastic opportunity for the UK”. He also pledged to “radically innovate” the health service with new technologies in a “bold” move challenging “conventional wisdom”.
NHS waiting lists have left a record 2.5 million people unable to work because of long-term sickness, with an extra 133,000 falling out of the workforce for health reasons in the three months to September.
Mr Sunak has urged the NHS to embrace the use of robots and innovation in drugs and new technologies. He said supporting innovation was a “defining focus” of his premiership, as he described more automation and investment in robotics as “low hanging fruit” to drive up pay and growth.