Apparently alarmed by the unstoppable rise of the Reform Party, as shown most recently by the results of Britain’s local elections, the Labour Government has responded to the nation’s perceived immigration crisis in a manner it sees best fit to reassure its many critics. The government has stated its intentions in an 82-page White Paper entitled ‘Restoring Control over the Immigration System’, published on 12 May 2025. In the words of the Prime Minister, the government intends to reverse “inward migration” to the UK and to undo the damage caused by “a one-nation experiment in open borders”, which has “distorted” the British economy by “perverse incentives to import workers rather than invest in our own skills.” Migrant workers “must contribute, learn our language and integrate.” Ultimately, net migration must be “properly managed and controlled.”
While admitting the economic and cultural contributions of immigrants to British society, the government is concerned with ensuring that immigration is “fair” and beneficial to the UK, at a time of increased numbers of arrivals. Legal net migration rose from 224,000 in the year to June 2019 to 906, 000 in the year ending June 2023, before falling to 728,000 the following year. These numbers were boosted by Ukrainians and Hong Kongers seeking refuge in Britain. This figure is expected to fall further in 2025.
In post-Brexit Britain, non-EU nationals and their dependants have been sucked in by the nation’s Points-Based System. Since 2020, “lower-skilled” Work Visa holders have helped plug the gaps in Britain’s services sector, particularly the care sector- “distorting” the labour market in the process. Sponsored student visas have lured international students to “lower-ranked education institutions,” sometimes without proper checks. The Graduate route has, since its inception in July 2021, encouraged graduate students to remain in the UK for up to two to three years after qualification. Some students have reportedly discontinued their studies, sought alternative employment, or even applied for asylum after arriving in the UK. Henceforth, graduates will only be able to remain in the UK for 18 months after completing their studies.
Concern over immigration dates back to the arrival of New Commonwealth immigrants in the 1950s, when people with darker skin colour were considered undesirable by many. A significant section of today’s Britain’s citizens, including even settled migrants and their progeny, consider continuing immigration to be detrimental. Immigrants are considered a drain on the NHS, the educational system, and social services, as well as the transport infrastructure; a major contributor to the serious shortage of affordable housing; and are held responsible for keeping wages down.
There can be little doubt that the failure of integration and a lack of English language skills disadvantage both migrants and the communities they live in. Unfortunately, this lack of integration can be traced back to earlier times, when members of the host community did not wish to have foreigners as neighbours or acquaintances, leading to the residential segregation of new arrivals in less desirable inner-city neighbourhoods, from which Whites then moved out to leafier suburbs or towns further away. This led to the emergence of self-sufficient communities, with their own parallel institutions and places of worship, largely detached from contemporary mainstream Britain. Migrants engaged in factory work and other manual jobs which did not require direct contact with the public were also not tested for their English language skills. A similar lack of integration has been seen in more recent times, albeit in a reverse direction and in other countries. For example, British “expatriates” in Spain tend to seek out their own people, language, and culture, while reaping the benefits of living in sunnier climes.
As in many other developed economies, “indigenous people” in Britain seem less enamoured of low-paid, labour-intensive jobs, in which working conditions leave much to be desired. Coupled with a falling birth rate, and a large so-called “economically inactive” population, the UK has thus come to rely on migrants to provide many essential services.
The British government seeks to reduce the nation’s over-reliance on overseas workers by investing in developing the skills of, and training, the domestic workforce, all in the hope of reducing unemployment and economic inactivity within the UK. At the same time, the bar will be set sufficiently high for intending migrants, who will need a B2-level (Independent User) standard of English (Common European Framework for Reference for Languages) and a bachelor’s degree from University (Regulated Qualifications Framework Level 6) to qualify for a worker visa and will only be granted Settled Status (Indefinite Leave to Remain) after a decade, in place of the usual five years. An exception will be made for specific roles and for a set time for workers on a Temporary Shortage List. Highly-qualified ‘Skilled Workers’ and those with entrepreneurship and leadership skills will be particularly welcome as part of Britain’s “mission to promote growth.” To prevent people going missing once they arrive in Britain, digital ID and e-Visas will ensure that the government can keep tabs on their whereabouts, ensuring that they are complying with visa requirements and not overstaying and working illegally, especially in the gig economy.
There can be little doubt that immigration needs to be controlled and managed, but unless British citizens can be persuaded to work in certain underserved parts of the services sector, tempted by higher pay and better terms and conditions, the government’s aspirations and society’s needs will turn out to be at cross purposes. A society awash with exceptional talent and amazing entrepreneurial skills will still need carers (care homes; domiciliary care services), cleaners, construction workers, delivery drivers, farm workers, gardeners, hotel workers, servers in eateries, and many others with “lower skill” sets to maintain acceptable standards of living. It is also unclear why people with higher skills cannot be nurtured within Britain’s shores, given the strength of its top-tier universities, rather than relying on a “brain drain” from countries in greater need. The White Paper on Immigration Control is a consultation document, which will need time to be fleshed out. Even if it does come to fruition, it will take many years for any noticeable change- far longer than the four remaining years of the current election cycle.
Ashis Banerjee