Comparing the immigration policies of the main political parties’ manifestos
| POLICY | Liberal Democrats 2024 Manifesto |
Labour 2024 Manifesto | Conservative 2024 Manifesto | Reform 2024 Manifesto out on 17 June 2024. An indication of immigration policies is available here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Work visas |
Replace the Conservatives’ arbitrary salary threshold with a more flexible merit-based system for work visas, with the relevant department working with employers in each sector to address specific needs as part of a long-term workforce strategy that also focuses on education and training to address skills gaps from within the UK.
Expand the Youth Mobility Scheme [although not solely a work visa] by:
• Negotiating with the EU to extend it on a reciprocal basis.
• Increasing the age limit from 30 to 35.
• Abolishing the fees for these visas.
• Extending the length of visas from two to three years.
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• Will reform the points-based immigration system so that it is fair and properly managed, with appropriate restrictions on visas, and by linking immigration and skills policy.
• Labour will not tolerate employers or recruitment agencies abusing the visa system. And we will not stand for breaches of employment law. Employers who flout the rules will be barred from hiring workers from abroad.
• Conservative policy is incoherent, with decisions on migration, skills and sectoral pay determined in isolation. Labour will bring joined-up thinking, ensuring that migration to address skills shortages triggers a plan to upskill workers and improve working conditions in the UK.
• We will strengthen the Migration Advisory Committee, and establish a framework for joint working with skills bodies across the UK, the Industrial Strategy Council and the Department for Work and Pensions.
• We will end the long-term reliance on overseas workers in some parts of the economy by bringing in workforce and training plans for sectors such as health and social care, and construction.
• The days of a sector languishing endlessly on immigration shortage lists with no action to train up workers will come to an end.
[Previous indications suggested Labour would ask the Migration Advisory Committee to review the increased Skilled Worker salary thresholds. This is not mentioned in the manifesto.]
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• Scrapped cut-price shortage labour from overseas, by abolishing the 20% going rate salary discount for shortage occupations.
• Stopped immigration from undercutting British workers, by increasing the salary threshold for Skilled Worker visas by 48 to £38,700.
• Going forward, we will raise the Skilled Worker threshold…with inflation automatically to make sure they don’t undercut UK workers.
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Stop the Illegal Working Scandal. Local wages have been slashed because of cheap, undocumented, illegal labour that undermines British workers. The pro-immigration establishment has not enforced the rules. Significant penalties will be imposed on companies and directors that breach these rules. |
| Family visas | Reverse the Conservatives’ unfair increase to income thresholds for family visas, so that no more families are torn apart. | Family migration is not addressed in the manifesto though there have been comments made previously about asking the MAC to review the minimum income requirement. |
• Ensured those sponsoring dependants can support them financially, by raising the minimum income for family visas to £38,700.
• Going forward, we will raise the…Family income requirement with inflation automatically to make sure they don’t undercut UK workers.
|
N/A |
| Net migration targets | Safeguard the future of our world-leading universities and the wellbeing of every student by…Reporting international student flows separately to estimates of long-term migration. |
…under the Conservatives, our economy has become overly dependent on workers from abroad to fill skills shortages. As a result, we have seen net migration reach record highs; more than triple the level than at the last election in 2019. The overall level must be properly controlled and managed. Failure to do so reduces the incentives for businesses to train locally. So, Labour will reduce net migration. |
• We need to control numbers and give the public confidence they will come down significantly.
• We will introduce a binding, legal cap on migration, set on work and family visas so public services are protected whilst we bring the skills our businesses and the NHS needs.
• Our cap will be set at a level that explicitly takes into account the costs and the benefits of migration.
• The cap will fall every year of the next Parliament and cannot be breached.
• We will give parliament an annual vote on the level of the cap so that the British people can have confidence that immigration numbers will be controlled.
• Unlike Labour, we won’t allow any form of free movement to return.
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Freeze Non-Essential Immigration. Smart immigration can target the essential skills our economy needs such as doctors, nurses and successful business people, earning above the average salary. |
| EU Settlement Scheme / Brexit |
Protect the rights of EU citizens and their families in the UK by:
• Automatically granting full Settled Status to all those with Pre-Settled Status.
• Providing them with physical proof of their right to stay
|
N/A | We are committed to the EU Settled Status Scheme and the rights it has guaranteed for EU citizens. | N/A |
| Asylum |
Provide safe and legal routes to sanctuary for refugees by:
• Expanding and properly funding the UK Resettlement Scheme.
• Creating new humanitarian travel permits that would allow asylum seekers to travel to the UK safely to proceed with their claims.
• Establishing a new scheme to resettle unaccompanied child refugees from elsewhere in Europe.
• Reuniting unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Europe with family members in the UK.
• Expanding the scope of refugee family reunion, including enabling unaccompanied child refugees in the UK to sponsor close family members to join them.
• Funding community-sponsorship projects for refugees, and rewarding community groups who develop innovative and successful ways of promoting social cohesion.
• Offering asylum to people fleeing the risk of violence because of their sexual orientation or gender identification, ending the culture of disbelief for LGBT+ asylum seekers, and never refusing an LGBT+ applicant on the basis that they could be discreet.
• End the detention of children for immigration purposes, and reduce detention for adults to an absolute last resort, with a 28-day time limit.
• Increase the ‘move-on’ period for refugees to 60 days, providing vital time for new refugees to prepare for life in the UK while ensuring that other public bodies are not left to pick up the costs of them becoming destitute.
• Scrap the Conservatives’ Illegal Migration Act and their Rwanda scheme, uphold the Refugee Convention, and provide safe and legal routes to sanctuary for refugees, helping to prevent dangerous Channel crossings.
• Tackle the asylum backlog by establishing a dedicated unit to improve the speed and quality of asylum decision-making, introducing a service standard of three months for all but the most complex asylum claims to be processed, and speeding up returns of those without a right to stay.
• Lift the ban on asylum seekers working if they have been waiting for a decision for more than three months, enabling them to support themselves, integrate in their communities and contribute to the economy.
• Work closely with Europol and the French authorities to stop the smuggling and trafficking gangs behind dangerous Channel crossings.
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Labour will:
• Stop the chaos and go after the criminal gangs who trade in driving this crisis.
• Create a new Border Security Command, with hundreds of new investigators, intelligence officers, and cross-border police officers. This will be funded by ending the wasteful Migration and Economic Development partnership with Rwanda. This new Command will work internationally and be supported by new counter-terrorism style powers, to pursue, disrupt, and arrest those responsible for the vile trade.
• Seek a new security agreement with the EU to ensure access to real-time intelligence and enable our policing teams to lead joint investigations with their European counterparts.
• Turn the page and restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly, and fairly; and the rules are properly enforced.
• Hire additional caseworkers to clear the Conservatives’ backlog and end asylum hotels, saving the taxpayer billions of pounds.
• Set up a new returns and enforcement unit, with an additional 1,000 staff, to fast-track removals to safe countries for people who do not have the right to stay here.
• Negotiate additional returns arrangements to speed up returns and increase the number of safe countries that failed asylum seekers can swiftly be sent back to.
• Act upstream, working with international partners to address the humanitarian crises which lead people to flee their homes, and to strengthen support for refugees in their home region.
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Establish a deterrent. We will run a relentless, continual process of permanently removing illegal migrants to Rwanda with a regular rhythm of flights every month, starting this July, until the boats are stopped. If we are forced to choose between our security and the jurisdiction of a foreign court, including the ECtHR, we will always choose our security.
• End the legal merry-go-round. We will stop illegal migrants from bringing spurious challenges to block their removal by bringing our Illegal Migration Act into force and clearing the asylum backlog, with all claims processed in six months and the use of hotels ended.
• Crack down on organised immigration crime, including through the National Crime Agency and our intelligence services, to disrupt supply chains and tackle people smugglers.
• Reform asylum rules, holding an international summit and working with other countries to reform international laws to make them fit for an age of mass migration. We will restrict visa access from countries that don’t work with us on our national priorities, like illegal migration.
• Return people with no right to be here to their own country. We will sign further returns deals like the one we have already agreed with Albania.
• With control of our borders, we can do more to help refugees fleeing persecution.
• In addition to maintaining visa schemes for people fleeing Hong Kong, Ukraine and our Afghan settlement schemes, we will give parliament control of how many places we offer on safe and legal routes to support those in genuine need from around the world, with a cap based on the capacity of local areas.
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Stop the Boats with our 6 Point Plan.
• Recognise a national Security Threat.
• Leave the European Convention on Human Rights: Zero Illegal Immigrants to be Resettled in the UK.
• Offshore Processing for Illegal Arrivals
• New Department of Immigration.
• Pick up Migrants out of Boats and Take Back to France. (We are legally allowed to do this under international treaties).
• Secure Detention for all Asylum Seekers. Asylum claims that arrive though safe countries will be processed rapidly offshore in British Overseas Territories. This will stop the scandal of undocumented asylum seekers absconding to work illegally or commit crime.
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| Visa application fees |
• Reduce the fee for registering a child as a British citizen from £1,214 to the cost of administration.
• Exclude NHS and care staff from the requirement to pay the Immigration Skills Charge [normally £1,000 per year of the sponsored visa]
|
N/A |
• We have taken steps to ensure those coming to the UK do not place a burden on the NHS, by requiring them to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge and increasing this to £1,035.
• We will go further, in line with other countries, by requiring migrants to undergo a health check in advance of travel and increasing their Immigration Health Surcharge or requiring them to buy health insurance if they are likely to be a burden on the NHS.
• We will increase all visa fees and remove the student discount to the Immigration Health Surcharge to raise more money for public services.
|
N/A |
| Students / graduate route | Transfer policy-making on work visas for overseas students from the Home Office to other departments and extend participation of devolved administrations in policy. | [Previous indications suggested Labour would maintain the ban on students’ dependent family members. This is not mentioned in the manifesto.] | Ended the ability of almost all international students and all care workers to bring dependants. |
• Restrict Student Dependents
.
• Introduce new visa rules for international students and their dependents.
• Only international students with essential skills can remain in the UK when their study ends.
• Close down fake courses and abusive immigration schemes.
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| Care workers | Reverse the Conservatives’ ban on care workers bringing partners and children. | N/A | Ended the ability of almost all international students and all care workers to bring dependants. | N/A |
All information was correct at the time of publication. Kingsley Napley does not endorse any political party.