Open the Gates: PM Sunak Planning on ‘Growth Visa’ to Bring in More Migrants to Britain

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - NOVEMBER 09: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak departs 10 Downin
Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is reportedly preparing to introduce a “growth visa” to bring in more workers to Britain, further demonstrating that the Conservative party likely had no intention on actually reducing immigration after Brexit.

In order to supposedly increase economic output, Rishi Sunak’s government is said to have revived a scheme concocted by Liz Truss to introduce a “growth visa” to attract foreign labour to work on various infrastructure projects, such as on new wind, solar, nuclear, rail, telecoms, digital, and road projects.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, the broadsheet most closely aligned with the governing Conservative party, a source within Number 10 Downing Street confirmed that the plan is “still being discussed”.

While Mr Sunak previously pledged to fulfil the the pledge from the 2019 Tory manifesto — upon which the current government was elected — to reduce overall immigration, the government has confirmed that all commitments Sunak made during the summer campaign are under review and may be scrapped in light of current economic conditions.

Indeed, Sunak is currently seeking to craft a post-Brexit trade deal with India that would likely see the Modi government in New Deli press the UK to open up more avenues to migration for its citizens in exchange for increased trade cooperation. This week, Breitbart London revealed that the government has so far done no research into the potential economic impact this will have on the native population of Britain.

The Department for International Trade went on to admit that the government “has not produced any research considering whether free trade with India might result in work currently performed in Britain being outsourced to that country.”

The plans to increase migration come as the 2021 Census revealed earlier this month that one in six people living in England and Wales, are foreigners, the highest level in recorded history. Of the ten million foreign-born residents, people from India represented the most common nationality recorded, with 920,000 Indians living in Britain, approximately 1.5 per cent of the total population.

The Office for National Statistics admitted that over half (57 per cent) of the population growth seen since the 2011 census was a result of immigration. The increase of 3.5 million to the foreign-born population over the past decade was all experienced under successive Conservative governments.

Though former Prime Minister Boris Johnson claimed that his points based immigration system would reduce overall immigration, unlike the Australian model upon which it was crafted, Johnson’s scheme placed no hard cap on the number of migrants allowed in per year, leading the way for a record 1.1 million visas granted to foreign nationals in the year leading up to June.

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said claimed last week that ultimately the policy will still drive down immigration, saying: “The points-based system we have created has seen a quite big increase in the number of people coming into country… But our overall long term objective is to bring down immigration but to do it in a smart and intelligent way that brings in people that we need for public services but pushes business and industry to be genuinely more productive so we can raise wages in the country.”

The plan to add another avenue for more migration will likely put Sunak at loggerheads with his Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, who has called for the Conservative party to finally fulfil its longstanding — though never realised — pledge to cut net immigration to the tens of thousands.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka

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