The British government has presented plans to end what it calls a "failed experiment with the free market" in immigration policy, limiting visas for skilled workers to positions requiring higher education and encouraging businesses to invest in training local staff, reports "Reuters".
The measures come amid growing pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to reduce net migration after the strong performance of Nigel Farage's anti-immigration Reform UK party in local elections this month.
Under the new proposals, visas for lower-skilled jobs would be issued only for sectors identified as critical to the country's industrial strategy. In return, businesses would have to upgrade the skills of the British workforce. The changes will be set out in a white paper to be published on Monday.
"We inherited a failed immigration system in which the previous government replaced free movement with a free market experiment," said Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. "We are taking decisive action to restore control and order to the immigration system."
Immigration was a leading issue in the 2016 referendum on leaving the European Union (Brexit), when many voters expressed dissatisfaction with the free movement of workers within the bloc. Following Brexit in 2020, the UK’s Conservative government expanded the scope of visa regimes, allowing professions such as yoga teachers, dog walkers and DJs to apply for skilled worker visas.
While the new rules led to a drop in migration from the EU, special visa schemes for Ukrainians and Hong Kong residents, as well as changes to work visas, contributed to a record increase in immigration.
Net migration reached 906,000 people in the year to June 2023, up from 184,000 in the same period in 2019, when the UK was still a member of the EU.