Rishi Sunak agreed to raise the salary threshold for migrants to £40,000 as part of a deal he struck with Suella Braverman, according to a copy of the pact seen by the Telegraph.
Mr Sunak agreed to a four-point migration plan as he sought her support during his leadership bid last year, allies of Mrs Braverman say.
Chief among them was a pledge to raise the minimum salary threshold required for a foreign skilled worker visa from £26,000 to £40,000, a proposal that was publicly backed last week by Boris Johnson, the architect of the post-Brexit points-based migration system.
A copy of the agreement on migration, seen by the Telegraph, showed that they proposed to close down the graduate visa route, restrict the number of dependants that legal migrants could bring and prioritise Russell Group university applicants when evaluating student visa applications.
Mrs Braverman cited the Prime Minister’s failure to stick to their deal in her scathing “departure” letter that she published after being fired as Home Secretary earlier this month.
Details of the deal have emerged days after official figures showed that net migration hit a record 745,000 in the year to December 2022, three times pre-Brexit levels and blowing apart the Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto commitment to reduce overall numbers below 239,000.
Mr Sunak has not denied discussing policy options with Mrs Braverman or the existence of a document, but Downing Street has rejected any characterisation of it as a deal.
‘I’m getting on with delivering things’
Mr Sunak told the Mail on Sunday: “Of course, you have conversations with people when you are in a leadership election and not just Suella.” Asked if he was worried about her producing proof of the deal, he replied: “That’s a question for her. I’m getting on with actually delivering things.”
Sources close to Mrs Braverman said the deal was not signed by Mr Sunak but that it was verbally agreed on multiple occasions – and in front of witnesses – and that he left their meeting with a physical copy of the document.
They claimed that after agreeing the deal and making her Home Secretary, No 10 failed to take legal migration seriously, declaring instead that small boats were the public’s prime concern.
Six letters, each setting out detailed policy options and sent to No 10 either by Mrs Braverman or her office, were ignored, according to sources close to the former home secretary. In one, in November 2022,weeks after her appointment, she said she had instructed officials to “work up a set of proposals”.
“Our manifesto commitment that overall immigration numbers will come down is at risk because of recent trends on visa grants…we can and must deliver our manifesto promise of lowering overall numbers in a manner that is consistent with supporting economic growth,” she said.
The letter set out two additional proposals, one for a cap on overall visa rates, with numbers annually set by Parliament, and a second scrapping the shortage occupation list, where employers can hire foreign workers at 20 per cent below the going rate. This has been recommended by the Government’s own Migration Advisory Committee (MAC).
Tackling net migration was the top item in the agreement, which opened by warning record numbers of visas were being issued including a “large increase in numbers of foreign students from developing countries attending non-Russell group universities on business studies master’s with dependants”.
It proposed: “A. Close down the graduate visa route. B. Restrict number of dependents. C. Prioritise particular universities and courses. D. Increase salary thresholds for skilled workers from £25k to £40k.”
In her November 2022 letter, she advocated replacing the two-year graduate visa route with a four-month stay when overseas students could try to get a job and could switch their visa over from student to work. This was in line with a 2018 recommendation by the MAC.
A ban on nearly all postgraduate students bringing in dependents apart from those on research programmes was announced in May by Mr Sunak, which he has described as the single toughest measure in years to reduce net migration.
However, he is under pressure to go further. Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, who co-signed Mrs Braverman’s final letter in October this year, is pressing for a ban on care workers bringing in dependants and a cap on health and social care visas.
No 10 is “actively considering” measures, understood to include restrictions on care worker dependents and an increase in the skilled worker salary threshold. On Sunday, a spokesman said Mr Sunak had been very clear he believed migration was too high and had to come down to more “sustainable” levels. They noted the numbers were slowing, adding: “We’re prepared to act and do more.”
‘Suella had policy principles’
However, a Tory ally of Mrs Braverman said: “The Prime Minister needs to get on with delivering our 2019 manifesto promise rather than trying to kid people with warm words and vague pledges. Suella was very clear what needed to be done and he just ignored her. That’s why they didn’t like her – because she had policy principles.”
Ministers are expected this week to make final decisions on the new treaty with Rwanda and bill to declare it safe after the policy was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court.
The bill will enshrine in law a treaty under which Rwanda commits not to remove any migrant deported from the UK, a move designed to answer the main criticism by the supreme court that asylum seekers could be returned to their homelands to face persecution.
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2023-11-26 21:30:00Z
CBMibGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRlbGVncmFwaC5jby51ay9wb2xpdGljcy8yMDIzLzExLzI2L3N1bmFrLWFncmVlZC10by00MGstc2FsYXJ5LXRocmVzaG9sZC1mb3ItbWlncmFudHMtYnJhdmVybWFuL9IBAA
