Immigration numbers will only come down if we end incentive to import workers
HIDDEN in this week’s record-high immigration numbers was a shocking fact: Work visas issued to foreign nationals have doubled since 2019.
Because of the Government’s failure to train hundreds of thousands of our young people or get people back to work, the economy is dependent on low pay and cheap labour.
After 13 years, the Tories’ empty promises have come home to roost. It’s time to get real about this.
Of course, we should be proud of how we welcome people here. It has always been part of our national story.
But if we don’t get serious about providing better training, skills and opportunities for British workers, our economy will continue to splutter along in second gear.
We won’t be able to compete in the race for the jobs and industries of the future.
We won’t deliver on the huge potential we have.
Pulling the lever of immigration is no substitute for a proper plan.
We want immigration to come down. Brits want immigration to come down.
If we want to build a better Britain, apprenticeships is the place to start.
Businesses are pulling their hair out about skills shortages.
Yet huge amounts of money for training is going unspent and the numbers of people starting apprenticeships is plummeting.
This is a travesty. Apprenticeships are a ticket to a better future.
They are the best tool we have for ending the cultural snobbery towards vocational learning. We must urgently expand them.
Working with businesses and employees, we will ensure people can get the skills they need to get on.
We’ll sort out the Government’s failing Apprenticeship Levy so British workers have the training and qualifications they need to seize the opportunities of the future.
Young people are desperate for opportunities but do not get the direction they need.
That guidance should be available to everyone, through proper, skilled careers advisers.
And we should bring back two-week work experience placements.
But we also need to end the culture that encourages businesses to hire from abroad rather than train people here.
Vital mission
In sectors with shortages, foreign workers can be paid 20 per cent less than the going rate.
This is bad for those who come here to work, bad for British workers and bad for business.
Labour would scrap this and ensure businesses that need to hire from abroad pay the going rate and set out proper plans to invest in training at home.
These are common sense, practical solutions.
I come from a working-class family. My dad was a toolmaker, my mum was a nurse.
Throughout the cost-of-living crisis, I’ve carried with me the memory of having our phone cut off because we couldn’t afford the bills.
I know how it feels to struggle to make ends meet.
But I also remember that no matter how tough things got, we always had optimism.
“Work hard and you’ll get on in life” is something every parent tells their kids.
For too many people, this is no longer true. People are working harder, paying more, getting less.
If we are to prove the naysayers wrong and fulfil Britain’s potential, it is essential we make this a country where hard work pays and people can make the most of their talents.
In the coming weeks I’ll be setting out Labour’s vital mission: To provide opportunity for all. It won’t be simple or easy. It will mean taking on those who reject change.
But I have never ducked those fights before.
I’m not going to start now, when the prize for Britain is so great.