British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has vowed to introduce a legal cap on immigration if his party is re-elected. This move addresses a key issue as the national vote approaches next month.
Sunak’s Conservative Party, trailing behind the opposition Labour Party in polls, announced that lawmakers would vote on setting immigration levels if they remain in power. Immigration has been a dominant topic in British politics for over a decade, influencing the Brexit referendum.
“By capping migration numbers each year, we will ensure that public services are protected and housing is not overburdened, while still bringing in the skills our businesses and NHS (National Health Service) need,” stated the Conservative Party, which faces predictions of its worst election defeat in over a century.
This year, Sunak implemented new rules to reduce legal migration. These included preventing international students from bringing family members and raising the salary threshold for skilled worker visas.
Annual net migration to Britain decreased to 685,000 in 2023 from a record 764,000 in 2022. Despite this drop, the 2023 level remains about three times higher than in 2019, when the Conservatives won the last election with a pledge to reduce migrant numbers.
“We have taken bold action to cut the number of people coming to this country. The plan is working but migration levels are still too high, so we are going further,” Sunak said in a statement.
The Conservative government’s key policy of sending asylum seekers arriving in Britain without permission to Rwanda for processing has encountered legal and parliamentary challenges. The success of this policy now depends on the party winning the upcoming election.
According to a YouGov tracker, Britons rank immigration and asylum among the most important issues facing the country, alongside the state of the NHS and the economy.
