Boris Johnson scrambles to rescue immigration pledge after experts reject it as a ‘soundbite’ Rob Merrick
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/boris-johnson-scrambles-to-rescue-points-based-immigration-pledge-after-experts-reject-it-as-a-soundbite/ar-BBZpj7U
A blueprint for cutting immigration after Brexit has been branded “a disaster” by social care leaders and has left Boris Johnson’s promise of a points-based system in tatters.
Downing Street is scrambling to rescue the prime minister’s high-profile pledge to adopt an Australian-style system after it was rejected by the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) – which called it “a soundbite”.
The implementation of such a system – based on factors such as age, qualifications and previous study in the UK – risked repeating past “mistakes” and should be introduced for highly skilled migrants only, the MAC said.
Instead, it called for a minimum salary threshold for most workers offered a job – a system Mr Johnson sought to scrap – but set at £25,600 instead of the £30,000 proposed under Theresa May’s premiership.
The idea was savaged as “a disaster” by the Nuffield Trust, a health think tank, which warned: “These proposals would make it almost impossible for people to migrate to work in most frontline social care jobs.”
Business leaders, meanwhile, criticised the rejection of any regional variation in the proposed £25,600 floor, saying it would create problems for companies in poorer parts of the UK.
But Priti Patel, the home secretary, immediately hinted that the MAC report would be rejected – after its chair, Professor Alan Manning, revealed he had already been sacked.
Describing its recommendation as merely “advisory”, Ms Patel claimed: “The British public voted for change when it comes to immigration and with that they have voted for an Australian-style points-based system.”
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