With parliament now in recess, it’s worth looking at how the government’s immigration policy stands at the end of term. Last Monday (16 July) the Home Office released a “Statement of Changes to Immigration Rules” which relaxed visa restrictions for jobs experiencing shortage issues, such as bricklayers and carpenters. This comes just months after the Home Office announced tighter restrictions on student visas to “substantially cut net migration” by stopping international students from bringing their family or using their studies as a “backdoor” route to working in the UK. Though conflicted, these policies seem in line with the thinking of Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer, who reinforced the UK’s need to be “sensible and pragmatic” about immigration.
The Chancellor maintains that the government is “completely united” on immigration, though illegal immigration has been a point of greater contention in the Conservative Party. The Home Secretary Suella Braverman personally sponsored the Illegal Migration Bill, which was passed last Monday, and has described the arrival of migrant boats an “invasion on our southern coast”. The minister for immigration, Robert Jenrick, also sparked outrage earlier this month when he ordered cartoon murals in an asylum centre for unaccompanied children to be painted over. The decision, which “horrified” staff members at the centre, was defended by Jenrick as part of the need to make the area a “law enforcement environment” and “not a welcome centre”. It’s possible that Sunak is being lenient on these more aggressive demonstrations of anti-immigration sentiment because it allows him to satisfy the pragmatists of the party, such as Hunt.
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