FOREIGN care workers will be banned from getting visas under a sweeping immigration crackdown.
Sir Keir Starmer will tomorrow unveil his long-awaited blueprint to slash the monster number of overseas arrivals every year.
The anticipated package will likely feature more stringent English language assessments, stipulations for possessing a degree, and initiatives to prevent asylum seekers from exploiting human rights legislation.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper also revealed today she would be closing the care worker visa used by thousands to gain entry to the UK.
Bosses will still be able to recruit from the pool of around 10,000 migrant care staff already in the UK who are not currently working in the sector.
She mentioned to the BBC: “Care companies ought to be hiring from that group of individuals, instead of seeking recruits from other countries, as we are ending recruitment from abroad.”
Ms Cooper said the curbs along with tighter visa requirements on skilled migrants would cut annual arrivals by about 50,000.
Last year net migration stood at 728,000, down from a record 906,000 in 2023, sparking urgent calls for action.
The overwhelming majority of migrants arrived in the UK legally either on work, study or family visas.
The Immigration White Paper has ignited disagreements within the government, particularly between the Home Office, which aims to significantly reduce migration, and the Treasury, which considers migration beneficial for economic expansion.
Admitting that unfettered migration has not benefitted the economy, Ms Cooper said: “If that approach was right we would have seen, when we saw that soaring level of net migration, that soaring level of overseas recruitment, well surely we would have seen soaring
growth alongside it and we didn’t.
“Actually what we saw was the economy flatlined because by failing to invest in UK workers that also undermines productivity, it undermines the ability to get people back into the work who are currently not working.”
Tory Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp backed the care worker changes but said it was “not enough”, and demanded an annual cap on net migration.
Reform deputy Richard Tice also said voters are “raging, furious, about the levels of both legal and illegal immigration”.
The party has said Sir Keir’s crackdown is “merely tinkering at the edges” and is “doomed to fail”.
It comes as Ms Cooper told Sky News that the government is trying to implement a “substantial reduction” in the number of people coming to the UK.
As part of the Government’s plans, the skilled visa threshold will be increased to degree-level.
For jobs below this level, access to the immigration system will be “time-limited” and only granted if there are shortages “critical to the industrial strategy”.
“Migration must be properly controlled and managed so the system is fair,” Ms Cooper said.
Employers will also be told they must train workers in the UK, under plans to be presented to Parliament on Monday.
Strategies to increase domestic skills and recruitment would also need to be drawn up, with a labour market evidence group set to be established to identify sectors “overly reliant on overseas labour”.
However, Ms Cooper refused to give a specific number regarding net migration, and confirmed there will not be a target for immigration.
Currently, foreign criminals are only reported to the Home Office if they receive a jail sentence.
A year behind bars is usually the threshold for being considered for deportation.
