Labour leader Keir Starmer is set has told the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference in Birmingham today that a government led by him would be “pragmatic” on migrant workers as part of a national “strategy for growth”.
However he will added that the UK should put an end the “cheap labour” model for growth and wean itself off its “immigration dependency”.
Starmer wants business “to start investing more in training up workers who are already here”.
Labour’s reform plan will include:
- Ensuring employers that sponsor visas are meeting decent pay and working conditions standards
- Speeding up visa delays to avoid labour shortages
- Introducing training and plans for improving pay and working conditions for roles that require international recruitment
- Reforming the migration advisory committee to project future migration trends more precisely
Yesterday, prime minister Rishi Sunak was urged by business to commit to looser immigration rules. Sunak responded by saying that he wanted the UK to be able to attract and welcome the “best and brightest” people from across the world. But he added that the British people must have “trust and confidence” in the immigration system.
“That means tackling illegal migration and that is what I am determined to do”, he said.
On Monday, CBI director Tony Danker told the BBC Radio 4 “Today” programme, that increased immigration must be used to “plug the gap” in the UK workforce as businesses struggle to fill job vacancies.
He added: “When it comes to immigration, it’s quite interesting, when you look at the OBR report on Thursday, they said the only thing that’s really moved the needle on growth is by allowing in a bit more immigration.
“The reason why it’s so important is we have literally over a million vacancies in this country, we have 600,000 people who are now long-term unwell, who aren’t coming back to the labour market any time soon.
“I recognise it’s a tough political choice for Conservative politicians”.
Starmer’s speech to the CBI conference in Birmingham will follow that of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday.
Speaking on Monday, Sunak’s core speech focussed on innovation. The PM pledged to “harness innovation to drive economic growth”. He said that “innovation” is “critical” to his mission of making the UK more prosperous.
He added that driving innovation will be the “defining focus” of the Government and he wants it to “permeate every aspect of what we do”.
In the questions that followed the speech, Sunak was also keen to kill off reports that the Government could seek a Swiss-style post-Brexit deal with the European Union.
He told the conference hall in Birmingham: “On trade, let me be unequivocal about this. Under my leadership the United Kingdom will not pursue any relationship with Europe that relies on alignment with EU laws.
“Now, I voted for Brexit, I believe in Brexit and I know that Brexit can deliver and is already delivering enormous benefits and opportunities for the country, migration being an immediate one where we have proper control of our borders and are able to have a conversation with the country about the type of migration that we want and need”.
