Suella Braverman warns present stage of immigration ‘can not go on’

Suella Braverman has warned present ranges of immigration “cannot go on” as she stated Britain will grow to be “unrecognisable” until the variety of individuals coming to the nation is minimize.

The former Home Secretary declared “we don’t have enough homes, GPs or schools” to assist the 1.4 million individuals granted visas final yr.

And she criticised Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for failing to forestall “this national disaster”.

Official figures yesterday confirmed file numbers of overseas staff arrived final yr, with 616,371 work visas issued – up from 421,565 in 2022.

The variety of overseas staff issued with a well being and social care visa has additionally skyrocketed, the Home Office figures present.

But Mrs Braverman, who was sacked in November, blasted the Rishi Sunak’s file on chopping migration, warning: “1.4 million people were granted visas here last year. Asylum approvals at a record high.

“Work and student visa numbers, including many dependents, are appalling. This cannot go on. We don’t have enough homes, GPs or schools to support this level.

“The PM must adopt policies I pushed for that would have prevented this national disaster: we need a cap on overall numbers.

“Britain will be unrecognisable if this carries on. It’s not what the British people, including me, voted for.”

The Home Office issued 616,371 work visas to foreign employees and their family members, 605,504 to students from abroad and their relatives, 85,640 family visas, 17,705 family permits to European citizens, 41,767 visas to Ukrainian refugees and 28,303 to Hong Kong residents in the year to December.

The think tank, the Centre for Policy Studies, said the number of visas issued on “core routes” – work, examine and household – had elevated to 1.29 million – up from 1.09 million in 2022.

The variety of visa extensions has additionally surged by 22 p.c final yr.

Mrs Braverman instructed the Daily Express: “There has been a lot of resistance around the Cabinet table to reducing overall numbers for a number of years.

“It’s part of traditional Treasury and OBR logic which states that more people equals a bigger economy. But this is a con.

“We’ve artificially kept growth running at less than 1% by pumping millions more people from abroad into the economy at the expense of our own citizens who have seen wages depressed and living standards fall for years.

“We owe it to the British people to sort this out – it’s existential and what has been consistently voted for over decades and a large part of why we voted for Brexit.”

But a Government supply stated of the warnings: “The period covered by these figures was when she was Home Secretary, so this is her own record she’s criticising.”

Shock evaluation has revealed a surge within the variety of overseas staff arriving on well being and social care visas.

The variety of such visas permitted by the Home Office doubled to 146,477.

And the variety of dependents granted visas has rocketed to 279,131 – up 80 p.c. Relatives of these issued a well being and care visa accounted for 73 p.c of dependants who arrived within the yr to December.

The variety of care staff granted visas tripled to 105,881 after guidelines have been relaxed to fill 150,000 vacancies within the sector.

Home Office figures confirmed that Indian (18,664), Nigerian (18,143) and Zimbabwean (15,279) nationals accounted for nearly six in 10 (58%) of the visas granted to care staff and residential carer occupations final yr.

Indian nationals accounted for greater than half (51 p.c) of visa grants for nurses (11,322 grants), and slightly below a 3rd (32 p.c) of senior care employee visas (5,301 grants), the division stated.

Union bosses have claimed the care sector would collapse and not using a migrant workforce.

Migration Watch Chairman Alp Mehmet stated: “Yet more astonishing figures. Immigration remains completely out of control. This is what happens when the reins are handed to employers, universities and special interest groups.

“If net migration continues at present levels our population will increase by over 20 million people within 25 years, posing serious risks to future cohesion, stability and the economy.

“With population growth equating to 18 cities the size of Birmingham, the integration of newcomers will be all but impossible.”

New rules from March 11 will see care workers banned from bringing their loved ones to the UK under the visa, in a measure the Government hopes can tackle what it has described as “unsustainable and unfair ranges of migration”.

Ministers hope to slash net migration by 300,000 through the changes introduced in December, including new restrictions on foreign students, a minimum salary threshold and curbs on bringing dependants to the UK.

Health and care staff will not be affected by increases in salary thresholds that will be brought in this April from £26,200 to £38,700.

Conservative MP Tim Loughton told the Daily Express: “The problem is that these figures are still historic, before the clampdown on dependants in particular, comes in.

“But that does go to show just how necessary it was to remove the possibility of care workers and many overseas students bringing various family members with them.”

Responding to the latest visa data released, the Home Office, CPS Research Director Karl Williams said: “The latest Home Office data may, at first glance, contain signs that we have reached peak migration.

“But looking beyond the headlines, we can see that there was a sharp fall in visas issued to migrants from Ukraine and Hong Kong.

“The variety of visas issued on core work, examine and household routes elevated by 19% in 2023, to a file 1.29 million, up from 1.09 million in 2022.

“Previous evaluation by the CPS has discovered that, primarily based on ONS inhabitants projections, we might want to construct at the least 5.7 million houses in England over 15 years, with internet migration accounting for 41% of this determine (2.34 million houses).

“Based on figures introduced at this time, the pressures from file migration – on faculties, hospitals, and on housing – present no indicators of abating.”

A Home Office spokesperson stated: “The Prime Minister and Home Secretary have been clear that current levels of migration to the UK are far too high which is why the government took decisive action at the end of last year to deliver the largest migration cut ever. Our fair and robust reforms will mean 300,000 people who came to the UK last year would now not be able to come.

“These latest statistics pre-date the package of measures announced by the Home Secretary coming into force, which will deliver the long-term reduction the public expect to see.”