UK

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailWatch as James Cleverly unveils changes to Britain’s legal migration system on Monday 4 December, after official statistics showed that annual arrivals had hit a record high last year.The home secretary shared a package of measures intended to bring down net migration.He told the Commons that the minimum salary requirement for a skilled worker from overseas will be significantly hiked to around £38,000.The increase from £26,200 a year for visas to work in Britain featured in a wider package announced as Rishi Sunak comes under huge pressure.The prime minister has vowed to “do what is necessary” to bring down net migration in the wake of an official estimate saying levels had peaked at 745,000 in 2022.The salary figure is lower than the £40,000 in the deal Mr Sunak allegedly agreed with his since-sacked home secretary Suella Braverman to win her support for the Tory leadership.Privately, two sources said, Ms Braverman and immigration minister Robert Jenrick had pushed for the cap to go even higher, to £45,000. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak’s government will unveil a major set of measures to bring down net migration to the UK after figures soared to a record high.The PM is to overhaul a series of visa rules to curb net migration after shock official figures showed net migration stood at 745,000 in 2022.Mr Sunak has been under severe pressure from right-wing Tory MPs to act since the immigration figures were released, with sacked home secretary Suella Braverman describing them as a “slap in the face”.His shake-up is set to include a big increase in the salary threshold for migrants and a crackdown on social care staff bringing dependents to the UK. Home secretary James Cleverly will announce the shakeup with a statement to MPs at 3.30pm on Monday. The current salary threshold of £26,200 is expected to be hiked to £38,000.And one official confirmed that the number of dependents that social care workers are permitted to bring into Britain will also be cut back in the package. Mr Sunak and Mr Cleverly are also said to be ready to overhaul of the shortage occupation list, under which companies can pay foreign workers in shortage areas 20 per cent below the going rate.Suella Braverman has led pressure on Rishi Sunak to cut migration numbers A senior Whitehall source told The Daily Telegraph that people “will be surprised at how strong a package it is”.But it is not clear whether Mr Sunak will limit the total number of NHS and social care visas – a move immigration minister Robert Jenrick has been pushing for under a five-point plan.Privately, two sources said Ms Braverman and immigration minister Mr Jenrick had both pushed for the main salary threshold cap to go even higher – to £45,000.No 10 would not confirm any details – but said the legal migration package will crack down on “abuse” in the system. “The numbers are too high, there is evidence of abuse in the system and that’s what we will clamp down on.” In apparent rift with No 10, Mr Jenrick told MPs last week that his own immigration plan “would have been brought to the House before last Christmas if I could have done” – hinting that it had been blocked by Downing Street.The right-wing immigration minister – a close ally of Ms Braverman – also suggested he was keen to consider her idea of a radical “Australia-style” cap on annual net migration numbers.Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick has pushed a five-point plan to cut net migration Tory MP Sir John Hayes – a key ally of Suella Braverman – welcomed the planned package of measures to tackle legal migration. “The government has finally, it seems to me, seen sense,” told BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme.The leader of the Common Sense Group added: “There’s been a naivety on the part of some of the people advising government but actually that’s now been put aside and we’re seeing sense, we’re doing the right thing by the British people.”Pressed on a solution to a lack of workers, and the impact on the NHS and social care, Mr Hayes said: “The solution is to employ British workers for British jobs. It’s not that complicated.”However, Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said the measures would be “cruel” and “disastrous” for the social care sector given “massive” shortages in the sector.She predicted that it will mean some foreign workers already here will leave. “What do you think’s going to happen?” she told the World at One programme.The Unison leader said: “This will be an utter disaster because what they’re doing is basically sending out a really strong message … saying you’re not welcome here.”She added: “To those who are already here, who do have dependents when they come to renew their visa, presumably they will be told you have to send your children back again.”Ms McAnea said that it was possible for more British people to work in social care “but not straight away”, saying UK employers would have to start paying people “appropriately to make it a job that is attractive to people”.Rishi Sunak has vowed to crack down on both legal and illegal migration After a new JL Partners survey found that just 59 per cent of 2019 Tories plan to vote Conservative – with one in six 2019 Tory voters switching to Reform UK – pollster James Johnson said: “Only one option for the Conservatives now: go big on immigration or go home.”The issue has opened up huge divides in the Tory party. The New Conservative group of around 35 right-wing Tory MPs exerting huge pressure on Mr Sunak to take radical steps to cut numbers. But senior Tory moderates, including health committee chair Steve Brine, urged Mr Sunak not to clamp down on NHS and social care visas. “They are the people who look after your ailing parents and grandparents,” he said.The major overhaul comes as Mr Cleverly is set to fly to Kigali to sign off on an updated agreement with Rwanda to take deported asylum seekers. British lawyers could be sent to Rwandan courts in order to address concerns about the country’s legal system, after the plan was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court. James Cleverly is set to visit Rwanda this week to sign an updated treaty The Sunday Times reported that Kigali is to be given a £15m top-up payment to agree fresh terms. But No 10 insisted there had been no demand for extra money. The PM’s official spokesman said: “Certainly I don’t recognise that figure of £15m.”Senior civil servants at the Home Office are said to have warned No 10 that the emergency Rwanda legislation is destined to fail.One Home Office source told The Times: “No 10 is very gungho but they’re trying to push this through for political reasons and they don’t know what they’re doing legally. Legislating to say Rwanda is safe doesn’t mean it is true … It’s all gimmicks.”Government lawyers are reportedly refusing to sanction the most draconian version of the legislation that would opt out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) by using a “notwithstanding” clause to direct UK judges to ignore the ECHR on asylum cases.Senior Tory Mark Francois warned Mr Sunak that he must make sure the UK can opt out of the ECHR as part of the emergency Rwanda legislation.The chair of the European Research Group of Tory Brexiteers told GB News: “Rishi promised to stop the boats but as [Tory deputy chairman] Lee Anderson very bluntly pointed out a few weeks ago, well, he hasn’t has he? … We’ve had two goes before. Now it’s three strikes and you’re out”. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak’s popularity among grassroots Tories has crashed to a record low, as a major study revealed he is now faring worse than Liz Truss with the wider electorate.The prime minister is by far the least popular member of his cabinet, with an approval rating of -25.4, according to Conservative Home.It marks a dramatic fall from grace for Mr Sunak, who was expected to turn the party’s fortunes around after Ms Truss’s premiership. And it comes after a disastrous month for the PM, in which his flagship Rwanda asylum policy was rejected by the Supreme Court and he faced a growing backlash over record high migration. An in-depth study by JL Partners found Mr Sunak has presided over a “year of decline” leading to an “implosion” in the Tory vote, leaving Labour on course to win the next general election.Just 59 per cent of voters who backed the Conservatives in 2019 under Boris Johnson are sticking with the party under Sunak, the report, seen by Bloomberg, found. That was down from 74 per cent last August and 63 per cent following Ms Truss’s disastrous “mini-budget” in September 2022. The polling found that Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is doing the most damage to Mr Sunak’s party, with one in six 2019 Tory voters switching to the right-wing party. It will set alarm bells ringing in Downing Street, and comes as the Conservative Home survey revealed Mr Sunak’s plummeting support among Tory members. A separate survey by Conservative Home, seen as a bible for the Tory grassroots, described Mr Sunak’s latest rating as “dire” and said every piece of good news for Mr Sunak has been overshadowed by something bad.In a sign of growing unease within the party at the failure of its flagship Rwanda asylum policy, the Conservative Home rankings saw home secretary James Cleverly fall from the top spot to 22nd most popular.It comes after Mr Cleverly said the plan, to deport asylum seekers arriving in Britain to Rwanda, was not the “be all and end all” of the government’s approach on small boats.His approval rating among Tory members plummeted from 72 points last month to just 10,6 points in the latest poll.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s popularity continues to plunge “It’s fair to say that whatever you think of the new Home Secretary’s performance since he was appointed, pleasing Conservative activists seems to have been just about the last thing on his mind, for better or worse,” Conservative Home’s Paul Goodman and Henry Hill said.The most popular cabinet minister among the Tory grassroots is Kemi Badenoch, with a commanding 63.4 points. The business secretary is seen as a potential successor to Mr Sunak should the Conservatives lose the next election.She was backed in last summer’s leadership race by levelling up secretary Michael Gove,who at the time praised her “first class brain”.Ms Badenoch, an anti-woke firebrand, came fourth in the contest, which eventually saw Liz Truss become prime minister.Behind her in the Conservative Home survey are leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt, veterans minister Johnny Mercer and the new so-called minister for common sense Esther McVey.James Cleverly has also seen his fortunes plummet Lord Cameron, who made a sensational return to frontline politics when he took over as foreign secretary in last month’s reshuffle, is fourth from bottom in terms of popularity.“Some of this will be Leave-ish sentiment, some an unease about his record on China, some perhaps a memory of the Greensill saga,” Conservative Home said.He returned to the monthly survey on a rating of -4.9 points.The prime minister’s ratings among Tory members has been wildly fluctuating for months, with Mr Sunak having been unable to dodge negative headlines.Just hours after he met his key pledge to halve inflation this year, the government’s Rwanda scheme was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court.And just days after Mr Sunak and Jeremy Hunt’s tax-cutting autumn statement, figures showed net migration to the UK had soared to a record high.The devastating rating for Mr Sunak among Conservative members come as his party sits 19 points behind Labour in the polls. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe BBC will come under growing financial strain as the government blocks an expected 9 per cent licence fee increase, the culture secretary has suggested.Under a funding agreement struck by Boris Johnson, the levy is supposed to rise in line with inflation from April, and in the three years after that.It has been frozen for the past two years amid the rising cost of living, piling pressure on the corporation’s spending power.But on Monday morning, Lucy Frazer effectively confirmed the BBC will have to cope with a below-inflation rise amid reports Rishi Sunak wants to block the hike in the annual charge. Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lucy Frazer said no decision has been made on the licence fee (PA)The rise in the annual fee, if in line with inflation, would be by around £15 to £173.30, but Ms Frazer said she was concerned this would be “high” while the cost of living crisis is ongoing.She said the licence fee will still rise, but added: “As it rises, the BBC needs to be realistic about how much it can rise by.” She added: “We will be making an announcement on this very shortly.”Her comments came after the prime minsister told reporters on the way back from the Cop28 climate summit that the BBC “should be realistic about what it can expect people to pay at a time like this”.The licence fee pays for BBC services including TV, radio, the BBC website, podcasts, iPlayer and apps.Its existence is guaranteed until the end of 2027 at least by the BBC’s royal charter, which sets out its funding and purpose.The BBC is already under pressure because of the two-year licence fee freeze – which has left its funding flat despite spiralling inflation.It is scaling back its programming to make £500 million of savings and last week announced that nightly current affairs show Newsnight would be reduced to a 30-minute programme, with more than half of its staff being cut.Mr Sunak said over the weekend that “final decisions haven’t been made” about the future of the licence fee, but that the corporation should “cut its cloth appropriately”. A BBC spokesman pointed to the agreement, announced by former culture secretary Nadine Dorries last January, which froze the licence fee for two years with increases in line with inflation from 2024.Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries announced a BBC licence fee freeze last January (PA)The current culture secretary denied that the government was “ripping up” the deal.Put to her on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she insisted that ministers were looking at the planned rise amid concerns over the cost of living.”I wouldn’t put it like that at all, no. What we’re concerned about is the cost of living. And as the government we have taken a number of steps to protect people from the rise of the cost of living over the course of the last few years.””What we’re looking at is the appropriate rate of inflation. And we’re considering that with an eye on the fact that we want to ensure that people continue to be able to afford their bills.”She said a decision would be made “very soon”.”I regularly speak to the BBC. I’ve spoken to (director general) Tim Davie, probably around five times over the last few weeks alone. I spoke to the chair last week. This is an issue we have been discussing with the BBC for a number of months.”A BBC spokesperson said: “The government and BBC agreed a six-year licence fee settlement in January 2022, which froze the licence fee for two years with increases in line with inflation from 2024.“As is usual practice the Government sets and confirms the cost of a licence each year and this remains unconfirmed for 2024/25.“The BBC will continue to focus on what it does best: working to deliver world-class content and providing great value for all audiences.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email Glenys Kinnock, a former British cabinet minister, member of the European Parliament and wife of former Labour leader Neil Kinnock, has died. She was 79.Kinnock died Sunday at her London home some six years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, her family said.Kinnock went from being a schoolteacher to an outspoken politician to cabinet minister under former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and was known for her work to reduce poverty and starvation in Africa and other parts of the world.Tony Blair, the former prime minister, said she had been a huge support to her husband but was a leader herself and her passing would be mourned in many places around the globe. “She was a huge figure in progressive politics for decades: incredibly smart, brave, determined and resolute in standing up for what she believed was right,” Blair said. “Whether in fighting the cause of development, and the eradication of global poverty, social justice in Britain, equality for women or making the case for a European Union of weight and influence in the world, Glenys was passionate and persuasive.”Kinnock served as a member of the European Parliament from Wales for some 15 years before being made a baroness by Brown in 2009 so she could serve as his minister for Europe. During her time in Brussels, she was caught up in a scandal with scores of other European Parliament members for signing in each day to collect a daily 175-pound ($222) allowance and then departing. Born Glenys Elizabeth Parry on July 7, 1944, in England, she graduated from high school on the Welsh island of Anglesey and went to University College, Cardiff, where she met her future husband. They were married in 1967 and had two children, Stephen, a Labour Party member in the House of Commons, and Rachel.The family said in a statement that they were devastated. They said she endured Alzheimer’s “as long as she could, sustained her merriment and endless capacity for love, never complaining and with the innate courage with which she had confronted every challenge throughout her life.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSir Keir Starmer is facing a growing backlash after piling praise on Margaret Thatcher in a bid to win over disillusioned Tory voters.The Labour leader has been attacked by critics on the right who accused him of trying to “ride on the coattails of Thatcher’s success”. But he has also angered MPs on the left, with one saying the former PM “caused poverty and deprivation not seen since the Dickensian era”.Sir Keir heaped praise on Thatcher, claiming the former prime minister effected “meaningful change” and “set loose Britain’s natural entrepreneurialism”.Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, Sir Keir said: “Every moment of meaningful change in modern British politics begins with the realisation that politics must act in service of the British people, rather than dictating to them.“Margaret Thatcher sought to drag Britain out of its stupor by setting loose our natural entrepreneurialism. Tony Blair reimagined a stale, outdated Labour Party into one that could seize the optimism of the late Nineties.”He followed in the footsteps of his predecessor Sir Tony, who also praised the so-called Iron Lady in the run-up to his 1997 general election landslide.But left-wing Labour MP Beth Winter said the Thatcher government, which ran from 1979 to 1990, “devastated communities with the deliberate destruction of the mining industry”.She added: “Policies like the grossly iniquitous poll tax and the great privatisation rip-off offs were the hallmarks of Thatcherism.“Most of those forced to rely on food banks today are from communities that have never recovered from the Thatcher government’s assault on working-class communities.“Her government’s attacks on the working class and trade unions is well remembered in my [Cynon Valley] constituency.” Another Labour MP Ian Byrne said Thatcher’s legacy was “inequality, hunger, destitution and misery”.North of Tyne metro mayor Jamie Driscoll, who was blocked from standing for re-election as a Labour candidate, said Sir Keir had now “abandoned the red wall”.The left-wing mayor said: “The northeast lost 100,000 manufacturing jobs under Margaret Thatcher, my Dad’s job included. This is adding insult to injury.”Pro-Jeremy Corbyn campaign group Momentum said Sir Keir’s praise of Thatcher was “a failure of Labour values”. A spokesperson said: “Margaret Thatcher laid waste to working-class communities, privatised our public services, and set in train the destruction of the post-war settlement founded by Labour. “Starmer’s praise of her isn’t smart politics. It’s a shift to the right, and a failure of Labour values.” Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf attacked Sir Keir for the comments – arguing that “what Thatcher did to mining and industrial communities was not ‘entrepreneurialism’, it was vandalism”.In a post on X, he said: “Starmer praising Thatcher is an insult to those communities in Scotland, and across the UK, who still bear the scars of her disastrous policies.”Sir Keir hit back at critics, saying the point of his article was to “distinguish political leaders … between those that had a plan and those that drifted essentially”. In an interview with the BBC, he said: “And that’s why I referenced: Attlee, who obviously had a strong plan, New Jerusalem; Tony Blair, who captured the optimism of the 1990s having changed the Labour Party; and Thatcher, who did have a plan for entrepreneurialism, had a mission, it doesn’t mean I agree with what she did but I don’t think anybody could suggest that she didn’t have a driving sense of purpose.” Shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds was asked on Sky News whether he was a “Thatcher fan”. “No, I’m not but I can recognise that she was a formidable opponent,” he said.Meanwhile, Tory health secretary Victoria Atkins accused Sir Keir of trying to “ride on the coattails of her success”. Ms Atkins said Thatcher would not appreciate Sir Keir’s praise, touting a famous quote from the former PM saying: “No. No. No.”She told Sky News: “I think the public will see this for what it is… don’t forget he wasn’t appealing to Margaret Thatcher’s entrepreneurial spirit when he was courting votes from the hard left, and I suspect the great lady herself would view a man who is trying to ride on the coattails of her success with the following words: No. No. No.”Tory party chair Richard Holden piled in, accusing Sir Keir of “saying what he thinks people want to hear, despite having a track record of doing exactly the opposite”.Sir Keir’s article in the Tory-supporting paper also said Labour has undergone “shock therapy” since he took over the party from Mr Corbyn in 2020, adding that it has “changed dramatically”.And, in a sign of his growing confidence as Labour leader, Sir Keir sought to outflank Rishi Sunak by appealing to Tory voters on Brexit and migration.In a shift from his staunch opposition to Britain leaving the EU, he said the Tories have “failed to realise the possibilities of Brexit”.He added that he “profoundly disagrees” with the idea Labour should duck topics such as small boat crossings and immigration.He added: “This is a government that was elected on a promise that immigration would ‘come down’ and the British people would ‘always [be] in control’. For immigration to then triple is more than just yet another failure – it is a betrayal of their promises.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailBaroness Glenys Kinnock died peacefully in her sleep on Sunday with her husband and former Labour Party leader Lord Kinnock by her side, her family said.She served as a minister in Sir Tony Blair’s Labour government and also represented Wales in the European parliament as an MEP.Her family, which includes Labour MP Stephen Kinnock and daughter Rachel, said they were “devastated” by her death.Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called her a “true fighter” for the party while former prime minister Sir Tony said she was “resolute in standing up for what she believed was right”, as both men paid tribute to her life and career.The 79-year-old had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s six years ago.Baroness Kinnock has been hailed as a ‘true fighter’ for the Labour Party In a statement, her family said: “It is with the deepest sorrow that we announce the death of Glenys Kinnock.“Glenys died peacefully in her sleep in the early hours of Sunday morning, at home in London. She was the beloved wife and life partner of Neil, the cherished mother of Steve and Rachel and an adored grandmother.“Neil was with her in her final moments. They had been married for 56 years.“A proud democratic socialist, she campaigned, in Britain and internationally, for justice and against poverty all her life.”A former teacher, Baroness Kinnock served as an MEP for some 15 years before leaving Brussels in 2009 to take up a life peerage when then prime minister Gordon Brown appointed her minister for Europe.In their statement, the family continued: “Passionate to the end about education, she was a valued and respected school teacher before she began her own political career, as a member of the European parliament, then being made a peer in the House of Lords from where she served as minister for three of the great passions of her life, Europe, Africa and the UN.“She was a great friend to many people and causes and was truly loved.“Glenys endured Alzheimer’s after being diagnosed in 2017 and, as long as she could, sustained her merriment and endless capacity for love, never complaining and with the innate courage with which she had confronted every challenge throughout her life.“The family is of course devastated and would ask that their privacy be respected. Funeral details will be communicated in due course.”Sir Keir said Baroness Kinnock was a “passionate lifelong campaigner for social justice at home and abroad” who had an “impressive political career” in her own right.“Neil and Glenys had the most wonderful partnership, there for each other through thick and thin, with a love and commitment that was instantly obvious when you saw them together,” he said.“As the family have detailed, in recent years that meant looking after Glenys as Alzheimer’s did its worst.“But what we will all remember is Glenys as a true fighter for the Labour Party and the values of the labour movement, a pioneering woman, to whom we owe an enormous debt.“My sincere condolences to Neil, Stephen, Rachel and all the family at this sad time.”Sir Tony said Baroness Kinnock’s death would be “mourned in many countries and corners of the Earth”.In a statement, the former Labour PM said: “Cherie and I are so sad the hear the news about Glenys. She was a huge figure in progressive politics for decades: incredibly smart, brave, determined and resolute in standing up for what she believed was right. More