- The Chancellor told MP’s it was time for a ‘big transition’ in recruiting workers
Jeremy Hunt last night signalled that the Treasury has dropped its opposition to tightening immigration controls – as he criticised firms for ‘filling their vacancies with people from overseas’.
In a significant intervention, the Chancellor told MPs it was time for a ‘big transition’ towards recruiting British workers and ‘reducing the six million adults of working age who are not in work’.
Mr Hunt said immigration levels were ‘too high’, adding: ‘It is wrong for businesses to be filling their vacancies with people from overseas when we’ve got people here at home who are not working who would be better off if they were working.’
His comments came as Rishi Sunak was put under pressure to scrap a controversial scheme that allows employers to use migrant labour to undercut domestic workers if their jobs are deemed to be ‘shortage occupations’.
The Prime Minister is examining a string of measures to curb arrivals in the wake of figures showing net immigration soared to a record 745,000 last year.
Jeremy Hunt last night signalled that the Treasury has dropped its opposition to tightening immigration controls
The Chancellor criticised firms for ‘filling their vacancies with people from overseas’ (Stock Image)
In a significant intervention, the Chancellor told MPs it was time for a ‘big transition’ towards recruiting British workers and ‘reducing the six million adults of working age who are not in work’ (Stock Image)
These include raising the minimum salary threshold for migrant workers, curbing their right to bring family members and placing a cap on the number of arrivals in certain sectors. Downing Street initially resisted pressure from immigration minister Robert Jenrick to axe the shortage occupation scheme, which allows employers in some sectors to recruit foreign workers at 80 per cent of the ‘going rate’ in the UK.
A Whitehall source said Mr Hunt’s comments reflected a shift in attitude at the department.
A government source added ministers had asked for economic modelling of different migration controls before deciding which measures to pursue.
The source said: ‘No one will thank us if we tighten things up so much that we push up the cost of social care or end up without enough nurses to bring down waiting lists.’
Labour piled pressure on Mr Sunak to act by saying it would scrap the 20 per cent discount for shortage occupations, which include health workers, bricklayers, carpenters and plasterers.