It’s a clear choice: The Conservatives or open borders under Labour, writes Home Secretary JAMES CLEVERLY
We understand it. The migration has been too high. That’s why we’ve taken bold action to bring the levels down.
People care about it because they see its impact in their daily lives. Their children cannot go to the school they want. They can’t get the house their family needs. They cannot get an appointment with the local GP.
It is a real problem that must be addressed in a fair and reasonable manner. The Conservatives are the only party that actually believes that we need to reduce this. And we will.
Migration fell by 10 percent last year and because of the bold action we have already taken – despite strong opposition from Work and the Lib Dems – we cut the number of people eligible to come to Britain last year by 300,000.
We must stick to the plan and continue to make tough choices to make good progress on this important issue. Pictured: Home Secretary James Cleverly
Migration fell by 10 percent last year, thanks to the bold action we have already taken. (Pictured: An inflatable dinghy carrying about 65 migrants crosses the English Channel on March 6, 2024)
Our range of bold solutions, such as closing loopholes that depend on students and ending the abuse of health and care visas, have ensured that we have a ‘fighting chance’ to drive down the numbers. Not my words, the words of Professor Brian Bell, the government’s chief migration adviser.
However, we must stick to the plan and continue to make difficult choices to make real progress on this important issue.
That is why we will introduce an annual legal limit on the number of visas granted on major routes and give Parliament an annual vote on this level, so that voters can be confident that numbers will be kept under control. We will commission an independent expert committee to recommend the annual level to government, taking into account the costs and benefits of migration as well as the needs of UK businesses and the NHS. At the same time, we will ensure that employers do not abuse the system and use migrant workers to undermine British wages.
The reform talks are having hard conversations on this issue, but the plans are unworkable. And a vote for reform is a vote for Labour. Nigel Farage, Britain’s new reform leader
As bright as night follows day, migration would increase under Labour. The party would scrap the Rwanda plan. Pictured: Labor leader Keir Starmer
The reform talks are having hard conversations on this issue, but the plans are unworkable. And a vote for reform is a vote for Labour. If Reform hands Sir Keir Starmer the keys to Number 10, people smugglers and those who want to game our generous system will prick up their ears around the world. Labor has no plan and would turn this country into a global magnet for migration. Do you really believe that a Labor Party led by a man who once described all immigration laws as ‘racist’ and campaigned for free movement and a second Brexit referendum can make the tough choices needed to bring this down?
As bright as night follows day, migration would increase under Labour. The party would scrap the Rwanda plan and hundreds of thousands of people would come to this country one way or another.
Britain is an incredibly hospitable place. Don’t let Labor tell you otherwise. But migration, both legal and illegal, is clearly too high. There is a clear choice available in these elections. A Conservative Prime Minister who will restrict immigration and drive down the numbers, or a Labor government that has no immigration plan and will have an amnesty for illegal immigration.
And a vote for anyone but the Conservatives is a vote for Starmer, open borders and higher immigration.
