Ippr: Govt could have to reduce non-EU migrants by 63%
Sarah Mulley, associate director at the Institute for Public Policy Reform (Ippr), comments on the release of the migration advisory committee’s report:
“The migration advisory committee’s analysis shows clearly how difficult it will be for the government to fulfil its promise to cut immigration substantially. The government now faces an unpalatable choice between introducing a policy which it knows will be damaging to the economy and public services, or failing to fulfil a key promise to the electorate.
“The MAC report suggests that, in order to achieve net immigration of 80,000 a year, the government will need to reduce net immigration to the UK from outside the EU from 184,000 to 68,000 – a reduction of 63 per cent. This is because the government has no control over migration to the UK by British or EU nationals.
“The MAC then suggest that this will require a reduction in skilled migration for work through Tiers 1 and 2 of the points based system of between 5,000 and 10,000 a year – this would mean reducing the numbers of visas issued by up to 80 per cent by 2015. It is also striking that the MAC conclude that the government can only achieve their objectives by including intra-company transfers in a cap, despite recent suggestions from prime minister to business leaders that they would be excluded.
“The MAC report concludes that these highly-skilled migrants make a positive contribution to economic growth and to the public purse, which implies that implementing such drastic cuts in entry visas over the next four years would have serious consequences for the UK.”
