Labour Party manifesto on immigration 2024

The tone of the Labour Party manifesto is somewhat different to that of the Conservatives or Reform. Whilst having the objective of reducing net migration, Labour acknowledge that people who come to the UK to work make a substantial contribution to the UK economy, its public services, and local communities.

Reform of the Points Based System and Upskilling the UK workforce

The manifesto commits to reducing net migration through the proper control and management of the visa frameowork, in particular, the Points Based System. A Labour government would link immigration and skills policy so that migration to address skills shortages will then lead to an increase in training of British workers to meet the need. It states, “The days of a sector languishing endlessly on immigration shortage lists with no action to train up workers will come to an end.” Labour, it claims, 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.

One area the manifesto doesn’t address is that of family migration. The Conservative cap on immigration numbers includes those seeking to enter the UK for family reasons. The Labour Party manifesto does not make any mention of family migration save that it will scrap visa fees for non-UK veterans who have served for four or more years. This cut will also extend to their dependents.

What does this mean for family migration?

The manifesto calls for a “fair and properly managed immigration system”. Whilst the focus is then on economic and illegal migration, might a fair and properly managed system lead to a reduction in the £29,000 minimum earning requirement for partner visas? In the short term, at least, it is unlikely that we will see any movement in the currently extortionate visa fees and Immigration Health Surcharge, but these represent a barrier to some families and should surely be addressed in a spirit of fairness?

Rwanda

A Labour government will scrap the Rwanda Scheme and instead focus on the speedier processing of asylum claims with enforced removal of those that are unsuccessful. In this respect it will start on the back foot if inherits the current Government’s massive backlog of unprocessed applications.