Tory Backbenchers Urge Sunak, Cut Migration Fast to Restore Voters’ Trust

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during a press conference following the G-7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 21, 2023. (Issei Kato - Pool/Getty Images)

A group of Conservative MPs have urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to curb immigration to restore voters’ trust in the party.

In a report to be released on Monday, the 25-strong group, named the New Conservatives, offered a series of proposals to drastically curb the “destabilising” impact of mass migration.

The MPs wrote: “Voters backed Brexit in 2016 expecting immigration would be brought down. We are now in danger of eroding public trust, especially among those who voted for the Conservative Party for the first time in 2019. We need to get immigration falling below 2019 levels as we promised.”

“In order to restore the trust of the nation, migration needs to come down—and fast,” said the group, which includes Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson.

Election Promise

In the report, MPs told the prime minister that a promise to reduce immigration formed a key plank of Boris Johnson’s 2019 victory, which saw the Tories make sweeping gains in former Labour heartlands or so-called “red wall” seats.

The group said the current post-Brexit system has been “too lenient” and is not working, saying that “mass migration is having destabilising economic and cultural consequences.”

Net migration was 606,000 last year, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.

The MPs called on ministers to close temporary visa schemes for care workers, impose a cap on the number of refugees, and further curb student visas.

They said the proposed measures would reduce net migration by 400,000 and in doing so meet the 2019 manifesto pledge that “there will be fewer lower-skilled migrants and overall numbers will come down.”

Cheap Foreign Labour

The report said reliance on cheap foreign labour is harming British workers.

“If employers can secure cheap labour from abroad, they will be more likely to support flexible migration policies, and less likely to invest in the training of UK workers who could then demand higher wages,” it said.

The MPs called on ministers to close temporary visa schemes for care workers in a bid to reduce migration figures by more than 80,000.

The report said: “Visa eligibility for both care workers and senior care workers were introduced as ‘temporary’ measures to address post-pandemic labour shortages. They were added to the Shortage Occupation List ‘in response to pandemic pressures.’

“Neither measure has yet been brought to a close, despite the abatement of the pandemic and its associated consequences.”

Capping Refugee Numbers

The group called it “encouraging” that the Illegal Migration Bill contains plans for an annual cap on refugees who come to the UK through safe and legal routes.

Between 2014 and 2022, about 54,000 people were resettled or relocated to the UK under refugee schemes.

The report suggested that a “cap of 20,000 would offer a number that, excluding Hong Kongers and Ukrainians, exceeds the total number of people granted asylum or resettled in the UK in any given year since 2002.

“This cap could then be lifted in order to respond to an unforeseen emergency, such as a natural disaster or a war.”

Curbs on Student Visas

The MPs also call for the government to “reserve university study visas for the brightest international students by excluding the poorest performing universities from eligibility criteria.”

They said there have been increased applications for study visas from students who wish to attend universities which are not part of the elite Russell group.

“A study visa that is blind to the rigour of university courses is also blind to the earning potential, or even employability, of graduates who can then go on to apply for graduate work visas.”

The report argued that immigration policy “should not be used to prop up the finances of underperforming universities.”

Labour Shortage Concerns

Tory MP Tom Hunt, who authored the report, rejected suggestions the report represented a challenge to the prime minister and insisted it is a “constructive document.”

He told BBC Radio 4’s “Westminster Hour”: “We’ve finally got back control of our immigration system. We’ve ended EU free movement. I think it’s healthy to have a level of debate within the political party about the future of our immigration policy and we’re fully supportive of the prime minister.”

Tory MP Tim Loughton said he understands the “frustration” over immigration but warned about a labour shortage.

“We have got a shortage of people in this country, particularly in the care industry, particularly in hospitality,” he told the BBC.

“It’s not as simple as just putting the salary thresholds up as well. There’s quite a lot of skilled but lower-paid people that we need coming into this country.”

PA Media contributed to this report.