https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1923651/labour-foreign-workers-net-migration/amp
Labour has delayed a crackdown on foreign workers amid the biggest population increase in 75 years.
Sir Keir Starmer's party is set to push back the introduction of legislation requiring companies to limit foreign labour until a second session of Parliament next year.
The measures will not be included in the King's Speech tomorrow and are instead expected to be introduced in the autumn of 2025.
A source told The Telegraph: “All that work will happen. There will be guidance, consultation and business engagement, but it is a longer lead time to develop legislation that has the desired effect.”
The Prime Minister pledged to cut net migration - the difference between the number of people legally arriving in the UK and leaving - in Labour's election manifesto.
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Record net migration levels are expected to fall by 300,000 due to measures introduced by the Tories, including bans on foreign workers and students bringing in dependents and increases in the skilled worker salary threshold from £26,200 to £38,700.
But Labour had pledged to go further with legislation that would block companies who break employment law from hiring workers from abroad.
Legislation would also limit companies’ access to the visa system if they failed to train and recruit British workers.
The move comes as new estimates from the Office for National Statistics showed the population of England and Wales rose by almost 610,000 to 60.9 million.
This growth was primarily made up by the 1,084,000 people who were estimated to have migrated from outside the UK during that period.
An estimated 462,000 people emigrated from England and Wales, meaning net migration - - totalled 622,000.
By comparison, the "natural change" in the population - the difference between births and deaths - was only 400 in the year to mid-2023 - the lowest figure since the year to mid-1978.
A Labour source said: “Under the previous government, net migration trebled to record levels, and they failed to take action to skill up Britain’s workforce and end the over-reliance on overseas staff.
“A Labour Government has committed to reduce net migration, with new skills plans in sectors with high numbers of overseas workers and action to tackle employers who exploit the visa system.”
Labour has delayed a crackdown on foreign workers amid the biggest population increase in 75 years.
Sir Keir Starmer's party is set to push back the introduction of legislation requiring companies to limit foreign labour until a second session of Parliament next year.
The measures will not be included in the King's Speech tomorrow and are instead expected to be introduced in the autumn of 2025.
A source told The Telegraph: “All that work will happen. There will be guidance, consultation and business engagement, but it is a longer lead time to develop legislation that has the desired effect.”
The Prime Minister pledged to cut net migration - the difference between the number of people legally arriving in the UK and leaving - in Labour's election manifesto.
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Record net migration levels are expected to fall by 300,000 due to measures introduced by the Tories, including bans on foreign workers and students bringing in dependents and increases in the skilled worker salary threshold from £26,200 to £38,700.
But Labour had pledged to go further with legislation that would block companies who break employment law from hiring workers from abroad.
Legislation would also limit companies’ access to the visa system if they failed to train and recruit British workers.
The move comes as new estimates from the Office for National Statistics showed the population of England and Wales rose by almost 610,000 to 60.9 million.
This growth was primarily made up by the 1,084,000 people who were estimated to have migrated from outside the UK during that period.
An estimated 462,000 people emigrated from England and Wales, meaning net migration - - totalled 622,000.
By comparison, the "natural change" in the population - the difference between births and deaths - was only 400 in the year to mid-2023 - the lowest figure since the year to mid-1978.
A Labour source said: “Under the previous government, net migration trebled to record levels, and they failed to take action to skill up Britain’s workforce and end the over-reliance on overseas staff.
“A Labour Government has committed to reduce net migration, with new skills plans in sectors with high numbers of overseas workers and action to tackle employers who exploit the visa system.”
