Immigration System

Lord Cameron of Lochiel Excerpts

Thursday 15th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Con)]

My Lords, there is now a broad consensus that the Government’s immigration system is broken. Too many people are coming into and staying in the United Kingdom. This is affecting jobs. It is affecting people’s communities. It is a serious problem that requires a serious solution. It is disappointing that the White Paper we have before us is not such a solution. Knowing him a little better now, I am sure that in a few moments the Minister will stand up and speak about the legacy of the last Government. Let me save him some time. Let me point to the fact that in the other place, earlier this week, the Home Secretary herself praised Conservative policies when she noted that visa applications are down by 40%. This is a direct consequence of the policies introduced by the last Government, which came into force in April last year.

However, analysing the last Government’s record is yielding less and less for this Government as the months roll by. It is now almost a year since the current Government came into power. The migration numbers we are seeing are manifesting, and have manifested for many months, on their watch. In our view, the White Paper lacks ambition to make the tough decisions needed truly to take a hold on immigration numbers. Now is the time for courage, not halfway-house decisions that do not tackle the problem. Safeguarding British jobs, promoting cohesion in our communities and reshaping our immigration system to be fit for purpose must be prioritised. For instance, there is a refusal in the White Paper to define an annual cap on migration to be set and voted on in this Parliament. It is not enough, in our view, simply to hope that numbers will come down. If the Government are confident that they can get the numbers down in considerable amounts, will the Minister push for a cap to be set out in law?

I am sure we will discuss this in more detail when the borders Bill is debated here in the next few months, but it was disappointing that the Government refused to support our amendments in the other place designed to disapply the Human Rights Act from immigration matters. Does the Minister agree that to tackle this issue properly that needs to happen? The same could be said for changes to visa thresholds. The previous Government planned to increase the visa salary threshold from £29,000 to £38,700. This was due to come into force on 1 April, but the Government delayed this policy, missing the opportunity to bring the numbers down with a measure that was projected to lower immigration numbers by 300,000 people. Will the Minister consider adopting that policy and raising the visa salary threshold for family visas to £38,700?

Immigration matters deeply to people across the country. The proposals we have before us are, I am sure, well intentioned, but they simply do not go far enough. Until the Government start considering the proposals that I have just set out, the White Paper we have before us will not deliver the changes that people across this country want to see and which the Government have a responsibility to bring about.