A vibrant economy depends on access to talent and skills from across the world. People who’ve made the UK their home play a crucial role in staffing our public services. Similarly, our higher education system is one of the UK’s leading export industries, and it attracts talent from across the world to engage in cutting-edge research, development and innovation.
However, where migration creates opportunity and dynamism, our immigration system creates dysfunction and vulnerability. It hampers graduates’ ability to use their skills in the UK once they’ve finished studying. It ties workers to employers, putting them at risk of exploitation. Short-term visas create obstacles to integration by preventing workers from putting down roots. Entire families are driven into modern-day slavery because undocumented migrants do not have the right to work.
We can and must introduce safer, fairer and more sensible rules that encourage long-term integration and provide workers …