Conservative MPs reject Rishi Sunak's immigration plan with 'alternative manifesto'

The 12-point plan calls for annual net migration to be slashed from about 600,000 to 200,000

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought to Dover, Kent, on board a Border Force vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel. PA

Rishi Sunak’s premiership is set to take yet another battering with the release of an “alternative manifesto” compiled by Tory MPs with the aim of cutting immigration in the UK.

The publishing of such a report from members of his own party lays bare the reality that many MPs do not believe the Prime Minister has a grip on the migration crisis. His promise to “stop the boats” is one of five pledges he has asked voters to judge his leadership on.

The document will also dampen Mr Sunak’s claim last month that his plan to stop small boat Channel crossings is “starting to work”.

Warmer temperatures have given rise to a higher number of people illegally crossing the Channel in small boats, with 3,824 arriving in June. The figure, from Migration Watch UK, is the highest for the month of June since records began in 2018.

The New Conservatives Group, made up of 25 Tory MPs elected in 2017 and 2019, will use the report to urge the government to cut illegal and legal immigration.

Their 12-point plan includes calls for an increase in salary thresholds for immigrants, a cap on care worker visas, and preventing foreign students from staying on after their graduate.

They want to see annual net migration reduced from around 606,000 to just over 200,000 and argued the system is “too lenient”.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak onboard a Border Agency vessel used to rescue migrants in Dover. Reuters

Miriam Cates, one of the MPs behind the report, said until a shake up of the system is delivered, British workers will not be drawn to jobs including that of a care worker.

“We’re not going to make it an attractive career, we’re not going to raise wages if there is this route for employers to bring in people from abroad,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “So we do need to make a plan for training up British workers to do these jobs.”

Mr Sunak's official spokesman told reporters: “We are committed to reducing migration and obviously we keep our policies under review.”

On whether the number of overseas social care workers could be capped, he said: “We are using the flexibility we have through our migration system to ensure we have sufficient staff in key areas.

“At the same time, we are looking to boost the numbers of domestic care staff that are available.”

Conservative Party Vice Chairman Lee Anderson is among those who have thrown their weight behind the alternative vision to tackle immigration.

In a foreword to the report, the group argued that current levels of migration are having “destabilising economic and cultural consequences”.

“It's time for us to honour that promise. Voters backed Brexit in 2016 expecting that immigration would be brought down,” the foreword added.

The release of the plan will be an embarrassing moment for Mr Sunak and Labour was quick to seize on it.

Shadow schools minister Stephen told Sky News it showed “we've got a weak prime minister that can't control his own backbenchers.”

Home Secretary Suella Braverman told MPs during a debate in the Commons that ministers “expect net migration to return to sustainable levels over time and immigration policy is under constant review”.

When asked if the Sunak government had plans to amend the minimum salary requirement for the skilled work visa programme, the Home Secretary said: “We always keep the salary threshold under review.

“But, as I said, net migration is too high and we need to get overall numbers down.

“How do we do that? Employers need to recruit more people already here rather than advertise abroad so much. We also need to get more people off welfare and back into economic activity and our welfare reforms will help that objective.

“And we cannot ignore the pressures that record levels of people coming to the UK put on housing supply, public services and on community relations.

“That’s why we need to focus on lowering net migration.”

Meanwhile, questions remain over Mr Sunak’s bid to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.

In a majority decision on Thursday, Court of Appeal judges overturned an earlier High Court ruling which found Rwanda could be considered a “safe third country”. The court said it would be unlawful for migrants to be deported to the African nation.

Mr Sunak said his administration would appeal the decision.

Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, leader of the opposition in Kigali, branded the UK government’s plan “illegal” and said that UK ministers “know that Rwanda is not a free country”.

She said every year the UK grants asylum to Rwandans who apply for protection.

“This means that [the] UK Home Office believes that those asylum seekers have reason to fear for their lives in Rwanda,” she told Sky News.

Anum Qaisar, an SNP MP, accused the Conservative government of “creating a hostile environment” for migrants under the Rwanda policy.

Ms Braverman said she would not take lectures from the SNP on how to deal with migration.

“They’re the phoney humanitarians in this debate who are happy to support asylum as long as they’re nowhere near Scotland,” she said in the House of Commons. “And when they stop opposing the vessel in Leith which will house more asylum seekers then we can have a serious conversation.”

She was referring to the Home Office’s plan to accommodate migrants on a cruise ship in Edinburgh, which is opposed by the local council and the SNP-led government.

Ms Braverman said during her visit to Rwanda earlier this year she met “happy and grateful” migrants who had resettled in the country under a scheme run by the UNHCR.

“They are happy and they are grateful for the generosity and the welcome that Rwanda has offered them and allowed them to restart their lives,” she said.

People smugglers are understood to be using last week’s court ruling against the Rwanda deportation plan as a sales tactic to attract more customers in Albania.

The Telegraph found adverts on TikTok that included images from a national TV programme reporting on the court’s decision with the headline: “No asylum seekers to Rwanda.”

Above the image, a message in Albanian read: “There is no return for Albanians who go to England by boat. Contact me if you want to go as well.”

Migrants stage protest outside London hotel – in pictures

The scene outside the Comfort Inn hotel on Belgrave Road in Pimlico. All photos: PA

Men barricade entrance with suitcases after they were allocated bunk beds.

The group, which appeared to be men only, took to the pavement outside the Comfort Inn

The group refused to accept the offer of government-funded accommodation

The group said they would stay outside until their demands for single rooms are met.

Photos taken at the scene show bedding laid out on cardboard and bags and suitcases.

The protest is taking place just 2km from the prime minister’s residence.