UK's Sunak vows to curb immigration if reelected

The United Kingdom's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowed to get tough on immigration this week, in an apparent attempt to win right-wing voters back from a rival party ahead of the country's July 4 general election.

Sunak, who is facing an uphill climb to secure a new term for his ruling Conservative Party after 14 years in power, fears right-wing voters are deserting his center-right party and getting behind the populist, anti-immigration Reform UK party, splitting the right-wing vote and leaving the door open to the left-wing Labour Party, which is well ahead in opinion polls.

In what political pundits have said is a clear attempt to stop Conservative Party supporters from switching their allegiance, Sunak said on Monday he plans to introduce a legal cap on immigration numbers if he is reelected.

"By capping migration numbers each year, we will ensure that public services are protected and housing is not overburdened, while still bringing the skills our businesses and NHS (National Health Service) need," he said.

He said the cap would be set by lawmakers with input from Parliament's Migration Advisory Committee.

This is not the first time Sunak has tried to manage the immigration issue. Earlier this year, his government introduced new rules to reduce the number of people able to legally enter the country, with a ban on international students bringing family members with them and an increase in the minimum wage to limit the number of people qualifying for a skilled worker visa.

Partly as a result of recent changes to the rules, annual net migration to the UK fell from 764,000 in 2022 to 685,000 last year.

'Bold action'

Sunak described his plan to introduce an immigration cap as a "bold action". While previous changes to the rules "to cut the number of people coming to this country" have clearly worked, he said "migration levels are still too high, so we are going further".

The Conservative Party has also been trying to come to grips with record numbers of people arriving in the country illegally.

Reuters reported this week that a YouGov tracker survey showed that immigration is one of the main issues on the minds of UK voters, with the NHS and the economy rounding out the top three.