Where the Tories failed on controlling Britain’s borders, letting net migration surge to an unprecedented 944,000 in the year to March 2023, Labour has succeeded. It shows what can be achieved through hard work and strict adherence to human rights laws rather than heartless gimmicks like the Rwanda scheme.
That, at any rate, is what the government will want us to believe when the latest net migration figures are published this week. They are almost certain to show that they have fallen to less than 200,000, and possibly as low as 160,000. If the latter, it would be the lowest figure for 14 years, outside Covid. Some Labour MPs are planning to use the figures to call for the government’s migration reforms to be abandoned on the grounds they are not necessary. Everything is under control.
Labour dumped the one policy which did appear to be making a difference: the Rwanda scheme
Except that it isn’t, and it will be outrageous for the government to try to take credit. This is partly because reforms introduced under Rishi Sunak have a lot to do with the fall in net migration. In its final manifestation, the last Conservative government raised the qualifying salary threshold for a work visa and banned students and care workers from bringing dependants with them.
