Work visa caps will 'balance' benefits and costs of foreign labour, argues Home Secretary
Capping the number of UK visas issued to foreign workers each year would “balance” the benefits and costs of bringing in foreign labour, the Home Secretary argued on Tuesday.
James Cleverly said further crackdowns on foreign labour would be introduced if the Tories win a majority at the general election.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak earlier announced that the Conservatives would restrict the number of visas issued each year in a bid to bring down net migration.
Mr Cleverly told the BBC: "For the first time, we're going to get the Migration Advisory Committee to crunch the numbers to look at both the benefit and the costs of migration levels.
“The Government will then set a cap on the number of visas it will issue in that year, something that will then be voted on by Parliament.
"This will make sure we properly balance both the numbers of people coming here and the benefit they bring, but also the cost, whether it's school places, housing demand, health places, etc."
Sir Keir Starmer dismissed Rishi Sunak's plans for a cap on visas, saying the Conservatives were just "hoping for the best" in efforts to cut net migration.
The Labour leader said: "Net migration is far too high, this Government has lost control.
“It's more than twice as high as it was when we were in the EU, that's the irony of it.
"This Prime Minister is actually, for all his tough talk, the most liberal prime minister when it comes to immigration, those numbers have gone through the roof."
Sir Keir declined to guarantee numbers would come down under a Labour government but added: "They need to come down, we've got a plan to bring them down.
"But you can't wish them down, that's what the Tories are doing.
“They are just plucking numbers and wishing and hoping for the best."
Labour would tackle "bad bosses" using migrant labour to undercut standards and boost skills to get Britons into work, he suggested.
They were:
Reforms to restrict care workers from bringing family members to the UK, which came into come into force on March 11.
Measures requiring care providers to register with the Care Quality Commission if they are sponsoring migrants started on the same date.
An increase to the minimum salary required for those arriving on a Skilled Worker Visa, from £26,200 to £38,700, began on April 4.
The minimum income threshold for those bringing dependents to the UK on family visas began increasing in stages from April 11. From this date workers needed to be earning at least £29,000-a-year to bring a family member from abroad - up from £18,600
