Connect with us

World

UK PM promises tougher visa rules to fix ‘broken’ migration system

Published

on

Sir Keir Starmer has promised to overhaul a “broken” immigration system, with plans to tighten English tests for all visa applicants and their adult dependants among the reforms being considered.

Migrants will also have to wait 10 years to apply to settle in the UK, instead of automatically gaining settled status after five years, under the plans.

Labour’s long-awaited migration rules, to be published soon, will “create a system that is controlled, selective and fair,” the prime minister said.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the idea Sir Keir “is tough on immigration is a joke” and promised to push Parliament to introduce a cap on migration.

Speaking before the publication of the Immigration White Paper, Sir Keir accused industries being “almost addicted to importing cheap labour” instead of “investing in the skills of people here and want a good job in their community”.

He singled out engineering as an industry “where visas have rocketed while apprenticeships have plummeted”.

The current system shuts out “young people weighing up their future” who missed out on potential training, Sir Keir said.

Labour have signalled the plan to raise English language requirements across every immigration route into the UK, though have not set out full details.

For the first time, adult dependants will also be required to show basic language skills to help them integrate, find jobs and avoid exploitation.

The BBC has been told the changes are likely to require a change to primary legislation, delaying implementation until the next parliamentary session in 2026.

In a speech, Sir Keir said: “When people come to our country, they should also commit to integration and to learning our language.”

Critics have warned the rules may split families if partners or parents struggle to learn English.

But research suggests that migrants themselves consider language important.

In 2021, nine-out-of-ten migrants reported speaking English well, according to analysis by the Oxford University Migration Observatory.

Only 1% of migrants self-reported not being able to speak English at all. But those with poor English skills were much less likely to be employed, the analysis found.

The move is part of a wider effort to “tighten up” what the prime minister called a “broken” immigration system.

The changes will also end automatic settlement for migrants on some visas in the UK after five years. Most migrants will need to stay at least 10 years before they can apply for settled status and begin the path to gaining full citizenship.

At the same time, a “fast-track” settlement will be established for nurses, engineers, AI experts and others who “genuinely contribute to Britain’s growth and society”, Sir Keir said.

With settled status, migrants can stay in the UK indefinitely, earn a living, study or get support. It can also be used to start the process to becoming a British citizen.

A 10-year route to settlement would make the UK “more restrictive than most other high-income countries,” Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, told BBC News.

The main impact of the change will be “more visa-fee revenue to the Home Office”, because people on temporary visas pay ongoing fees to be here, Ms Sumption said.

A longer settlement process will also make it “harder for migrants to settle in, because more will lack the rights that come with permanent status”, she added.

But Sir Keir described the plans as a “clean break from the past” that will “ensure settlement in this country is a privilege that must be earned, not a right”.

Successive governments have tried unsuccessfully to reduce net migration, which is the number of people coming to the UK minus the number leaving.

Net migration climbed to a record 906,000 in June 2023, and last year it stood at 728,000.

The Immigration White Paper brings together months of research by officials and will lay out Labour’s plan to get tougher on migration in the wake of big gains made by Reform UK in the local elections.

The threshold for Skilled Worker Visas is expected to be increased to graduate level, tightened from the current A-level measure – while the list of exceptions to the rules for temporary shortage visas in some industries will be narrowed.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper revealed on Sunday that Labour will change the rules to ensure care workers will no longer be recruited from overseas.

Instead, firms will be required to hire British nationals or extend visas of overseas workers already in the country.

Cooper told BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg it is “time to end that care worker recruitment from abroad”.

These two changes will cut up to 50,000 lower-skilled and care workers coming to the UK over the next year, Cooper said.

The Conservative Party said that – while it agrees with the plan to end care worker recruitment from abroad – it would force a vote on a “binding migration cap”.

“But Starmer and Labour will vote it down,” Chris Philp predicted.

He called Labour’s plans “too little” and argued that if the government had stuck with Tory changes, net migration would have dropped “by about 400,000”.

The Liberal Democrats said the immigration system was in “tatters” and trust had been “shattered”.

“Labour must now focus on fixing our broken immigration system and the Liberal Democrats look forward to scrutinising the government’s plans to ensure a system that works for our economy and our country,” home affairs spokeswoman Lisa Smart said.

Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice said that his party’s strong performance in the local elections in England was due to public anger about both legal and illegal migration.

(BBC News)

World

Over 80,000 evacuated amid serious flooding in SW China

Published

on

By

Continuous heavy rainfall and upstream inflows have triggered severe flooding in two counties of Guizhou Province in southwest China, prompting mass evacuations.

As of 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, 48,900 residents were temporarily evacuated in Rongjiang County and 32,000 in Congjiang County. The flood control emergency response has been escalated to Level I, the highest, in both counties.

Rongjiang, a county known for Cun Chao — a rural football league covering over 100 village teams and drawing numerous fans across the country, saw heavy rainstorms from 8 p.m. Monday, with a venue at the Duliu River exceeding the warning level by 6.68 meters as of 2 p.m. Tuesday.

The football field at the Cun Chao stadium was submerged under three meters of water.

Long Tian, a resident near the stadium, recalled that when he woke up at 8 a.m. Tuesday, the water downstairs was already thigh-deep.

“The water rose very quickly, so I stayed on the third floor waiting for rescue. By the afternoon, I had been transferred to safety,” Long said.

Rescue teams, including firefighters and volunteers, deployed boats and other equipment for the rescue work in the two counties.

As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, the provincial emergency department had allocated disaster relief items, including 30,000 bottles of drinking water and 10,000 bowls of instant noodles, to the two counties via high-speed rail and road transport.

Also in Guizhou, rain-triggered landslides caused the collapse of part of a bridge on an expressway in the county of Sandu. No casualties have been reported so far.

(Xinhua)

Continue Reading

News

Israel agrees to ceasefire proposal

Published

on

By

The Israeli government has said it agreed to the ceasefire proposal after “achieving the objectives” of its attacks on Iran.
According to the statement, Israel has removed Iran’s “dual immediate existential threat” from nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

It also says Israel has “inflicted severe damage on the military leadership, and destroyed dozens of central Iranian government targets”.

The statement goes on to say that Israeli forces, in the last day, have “severely struck government targets in the heart of Tehran, eliminating hundreds of Basij operatives” – a militia the Iranian government often uses to suppress protests – and “eliminating another senior nuclear scientist”.

“Israel thanks President Trump and the United States for their support in defence and their participation in eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat,” the statement adds.

Earlier, Iran state TV news channel IRINN says a ceasefire has been “imposed” on Israel following the “successful” Iranian attack on the US base in Qatar.

State TV said in a statement that Trump “begged” for a ceasefire following Iran’s attack. The statement was read aloud by the presenter.

The statement also hailed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Army and praised the “resistance” of Iranians.

The statement also called Iran’s attack on the US base in Qatar as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ “successful” response to the US attacking three Iranian nuclear sites, while Qatar said all missiles were intercepted.

(Excerpts : BBC News)

Continue Reading

News

Trump says Iran – Israel have agreed to a ceasefire

Published

on

By

US President Donald Trump has announced a “complete and total” ceasefire between Israel and Iran on social media.

Trump says the ceasefire will begin “in approximately six hours from now” after each country has “wound down” their military operations.

Trump’s announcement contains a periodic unravelling of hostilities but says that “upon the 24th hour” the war will officially end.

Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, has posted on X saying there is “no agreement of any ceasefire or cessation of military operations.”

“”As Iran has repeatedly made clear: Israel launched war on Iran, not the other way around…However, provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people no later than 4 am Tehran time, we have no intention to continue our response afterwards,: he has added.

“The final decision on the cessation of our military operations will be made later,” he has further said.

Meanwhile, Reuters have reported citing a senior White House official as saying that President Donald Trump brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Iran through talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday while his team, including Vice President JD Vance, held talks with Tehran.

The official, providing details of the ceasefire on condition of anonymity, has said Israel agreed to it so long as Iran does not launch fresh attacks.

(Agencies)

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2024 Sri Lanka Mirror. All Rights Reserved