Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has told the CBI conference that the UK needs to end its “immigration dependency” and move away from relying on “cheap labour” to fill vacancies.
Sir Keir’s comments come as businesses have been calling for ministers to extend visa schemes to enable more migrants to enter the workforce.
While he said that skilled foreign workers would be important for the UK economy, he emphasised that government needed to take a “pragmatic” approach to immigration.
Sir Keir also said that plans needed to be set in motion to upskill British workers to fill vacancies in skilled industries, and the economy had to become one of higher incomes.
The Labour leader’s comments echo those of prime minister, Rishi Sunak, who talked up the need to have “proper control” over the UK borders and the government’s aims to tackle illegal migration.
One of those calling for more foreign workers to be enabled to enter the workforce is the CBI’s director general, Tony Danker, who said that immigration was “the only thing that has increased our (the UK’s) growth potential since March.”
But Sir Keir outlined a new vision for immigration under a Labour government, should his party be successful at the next general election.
Outlining a system that recognised the need for skilled foreign workers and worked better for business, Sir Keir said that a Labour immigration framework would ensure all employers who sponsor visas provide decent standards of pay and working conditions, as well as faster visa processing to fill vacancies quicker.
He added that Labour would look to reform the Migration Advisory Committee to better project future trends and needs.
Sir Keir said: “We will expect you (business leaders) to bring forward a clear plan for higher skills and more training, for better pay and conditions, for investment in new technology.
“But our common goal must be to help the British economy off its immigration dependency. To start investing more in training up workers who are already here.”
It is not the first time that Sir Keir has taken a harder approach to immigration, having recently told the BBC that he believed too many overseas workers were being recruited to work in the NHS.
Sir Keir’s Labour has also dismissed the prospect of returning to the EU single market or freedom of movement in any future relationship with the bloc of nations. It comes after the PM and immigration minister Robert Jenrick denied that the government was seeking closer alignment with EU law.
