Kemi Badenoch says: ‘I don’t just understand the anger at the levels of immigration, I share it’ (Image: House of Commons/AFP via Getty I)
Taxpayers could face a £234billion bill if about 800,000 migrants are allowed to settle in the UK indefinitely, the Centre for Policy Studies has warned.
The think tank co-founded by Margaret Thatcher found that between January 2021 and June 2024 just over two million visas were issued to migrants who will be eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: “The country simply can’t afford the Labour Party’s lax approach to immigration.”
The CPS expects between 742,000 and 1,224,000 of those eligible to apply to remain in the UK will be granted permission. If 801,000 stay, it has calculated the net cost to the country will be the equivalent of £8,200 for every UK household over several decades.
The research comes on the heels of a call by Mrs Badenoch for migrants who claim benefits to be barred from settling in Britain indefinitely. She wants the time migrants must wait before applying for the right to remain in the UK to doubled from five to 10 years.
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The Tory leader said: “The will seek to force a vote on this tomorrow in Parliament. I sincerely hope that Labour MPs recognise the strength of public feeling on this issue. I don’t just understand the anger at the levels of immigration, I share it.”
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “It is simply unfair for British taxpayers to be asked to subsidise recent immigrants who have never paid in. These numbers show why the new plan we announced last week is so important – people who come here to work but either don’t work or who only earn low wages should not be allowed to stay, but must be required to leave.
“We cannot allow freeloading off hard-working British taxpayers. We will be pressing the Government to adopt our plan.”
Karl Williams, research director at the think tank, said a “significant proportion of recent migration to the UK has been people who are very unlikely to be fiscal contributors,” adding that “in the very near future they will be eligible to apply to remain in the UK long-term, gaining access to the NHS, social housing, Universal Credit and other benefits on the same terms as British citizens”.
Under the Conservative plan, residency would be denied to migrants with criminal records or who have claimed benefits or occupied social housing.
Mr Philp said Labour must now decide whether or not to back the changes, saying this is a “real test” which will show if it is “serious or not about controlling our borders”.
Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics suggest that net migration could push the UK population to 72.5 million by 2032. It expects nearly five million people will come to live in the UK in the decade leading up to 2032.
Net migration hit 906,000 in the 12 months to June 2023.
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The Shadow Home Secretary said the numbers coming into the country since were “far too high”.
The most recent census found that in England and Wales 880,000 people could not speak English well 161,000 could not speak the language at all.
Warning of the consequences, Mr Philp said: “I think it puts communities under huge pressure and there is a risk that some parts of the country become effectively segregated which is I think very damaging for the fabric of society.”
A Labour spokesperson said: “The completely lost control of our borders over 14 years in Government. On their watch net migration rose to nearly a million and dangerous small boat crossings soared. After more than a decade of shameful failure, the have zero credibility on immigration.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “These figures refer to a period of historically high levels of net migration under the previous government. We have been clear that the levels seen in recent years have been completely unacceptable, and we have committed to reducing those numbers substantially.
“Under our Plan for Change, we will publish a White Paper early this year to set out a comprehensive plan to restore order to our broken immigration system. We will link our immigration, skills and visa systems so we can grow our domestic workforce, end the reliance on overseas labour and boost economic growth.”